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THE 

PRISONERS' MEMOIRS, 

i 

OR, 

DARTMOOR PRISON: 

CONTAINING A COMPLETE AND IMPARTIAL 

HISTORY 

OF THE ENTIRE CAPTIVITY 

OF THE AMERICANS IN ENGLAND, 

PROM THE COMMENCEMENT OP THE LATE WAR BETWEEN THE 

"UNITED Si ATE3 AND GREAT BRITAIN, UNTIL ALL PRISONERS 

WERE RELEASED BY THE 

TREATY OF GHENT. 

ALSO, 

A PARTICULAR DETAIL OP ALL OCCURRENCES 

*» ** > AT* V *^ t**\ THAT 

HURRiD MASSACRE A TJDARTMOOR, 

On the fata! evening of the Gth cf A pril, IH15. 

THE WHOLE CAREFULLY COMPILED PROM THE JOURNAL OF CHARLES 
ANDREWS, A PRISONER IN ENOI AND, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT O* 
TH£ WAR, UNTIL XIIH R2LEA6E QF ALL THE PRISONER?. 



Quotque ipse ms'rrima vidi, 



El quorum pars magna j in; quis taliafa: 

Temperet a latrymis! Virg. I. ii. v. 0. 

TVse sufferings I myself have seen, and the greater part of which 
I was a principal purty. Who can relate such woes without a tear p 



NEW-YORK : 
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 

1815. 



District of New-York, &a. 

Be it remembered, that on the thirteenth day of October, ic 
the fortieth year of the Independence of the United States of Ame- 
rica, Philip R. Hopkins, of the paid district, hath deposited in this 
©ffice the title of a hook, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in 
the words aod figures following, to wit : 

Tne Prisoners' Memoirs, or, Dartmoor Prison ; containing a com- 
plete and impartial History of the entire Captivity of the Americans 
in England, from the commencement of the late war between the 
United States and Great Britain, until all prisoners were released by 
the Treaty of Ghent. Al«o, a particular detail of all occurrences re- 
lative to that horrid Massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of 
the 6th uf April, 1815. 

The whole carefully compiled from the Journal of Charles Andrews, 
a prisoner in England", from the commencement of the war, until the 
release of all the prisoners. 

Quaque «>" rm\trrima rwK, 

Et quorum pars magna fui , p«> tulia /undo, 
Ttm.pe.ret a lacrymis? ***%■ ' " v - 5. 

These sufferings I nJyself have seen, and the greater part of which 
I was a principal party. Who can relate such woes without a tear? 

In conformity to the Act ot the Congress of the United States, en- 
titled " \n \ct for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the 
copies of Vlan S Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietor* of 
such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an 
Act, entitled ' k an Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for 
the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, 
Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, du- 
ring the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof 
to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other 

pnntS '" THERON RUDD, 

Clerk of the Southern District of Nen- YorZ 






PREFACE. 



THE great anxiety of the public to possess a 
knowledge of the facts contained in the following pages, 
has obliged the editor to send it into the hands of the 
public without a second examination, and therefore in a 
more unfinished state than he could have wished. But 
as every historical relation ought to contain nothing but a 
recital of facts, the editor has aimed to give the truth 
with as. great perspicuity as possible, without endeavour- 
ing after elegance of diction or flowery romance. He 
kclicvp* it will not be an unwelcome service to the pub- 
lic if he relates to them what appeared to be the most 
important and interesting events of the American cap* 
tivity, without endeavouring to infuse into them the 
heat of political prejudice. Through the whole he has 
carefully avoided all opprobrious terms, or enthusiastic 
praise, which might discord with the feelings of any, or 
tend to stir up new hostilities betwixt the late bellige- 
rants. 

If any part of the work should be found languid ani 
tedious, it must be wholly attributed to the suffering sL 
tuation of the author ; the vigour and vivacity of whose 
mind was greatly affected by those of the body. If 
misery is less interesting collectively in groups, than 



IV 

when viewed individually, let the reader single out one, 
and view him. separately, through the iron gra ... . mid 
see him, pale and feeble, etching upon a stick, with a 
rusty nail, another notch, which adds to his kalendar 
another of those dismal days and nights he had spent in 
confinement ; he may view him till he sees the iron en- 
ter his soul before he turns from him, and then say — it 
was my son, my brother, or my friend ! — he will then 
have a picture interesting enough to !m feelings. 



CERTIFICATE. 



VV E, the undersigned, late prisoners of war, ,'iaving been 
confined prisoners the greater part of the last war be- 
tween the United States of America and Great Britain, 
and having carefully perused and examined the follow- 
ing Manuscript Journal, kept by Charles Andrews, our 
feliow-prisoner at Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, in 
the kingdom of Great Britain, do solemnly declare, that 
all matter and occurrences herein contained, are just and 
true, to the best of our knowledge and belief-, and thai 
this is the only Journal kept at Dartmoor. 

Capt. Joshua Wait, New-York. 
Capt. Samuel H. Gmnodo, Newport, R. 1. 
Capt. Frederick H. Coffin, Hudson, N. Y 
Mr. Joseph C. Morgan, Newport, R. I. 

Lieut. Homer Hull, Con. 

Mr Jacob Evans, Baltimore, Md. 

Capt. Benjamin F. Chesebrough, Con. 

Mr Luther S. Dunbar, Boston, -Mass. 
Capt. Richard Longly, Portland, D. M. 
Mr. Ephraim Abbott, Boston, Mass. 
Mr. Fenton Conner, Charleston, S. C. 
Mr Joseph Conner, Newbern, N. C. 

Mr. David Morrison, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Caleb Coffin, Nantucket, Mass. 
Mr. John Merrill, Portland, Maine. 



VI 



Capt. Charles Bennet, Hudson, N. Y, 
Mr. William Grhnn, Salem, M- 3. 
Mr. James Bo -^le, do. do. 
Mr. John F. Foster. Gloucester, Mass, 
Mr. Joseph Clark, Capc-E z daetu, do. 
Mr. John Stafford, Boston, Mass. 
Mr. Charles Whitewood, New-York. 
Mr. Samuel Rossett, do. 

Mr. Jacob F. Taylor, Philadelphia. 
Mr. William Conklin, New- York. 
Mr. Samuel S. Brush, do. 
Capt. John C. Rowles, Baltimore, Md. 
Mr. John Meigti, Boston, Mass. 
Mr. Edward Shaw, Baltimore, Md. 

Lieut. S. S. Fitch, Connecticut 

Mr. Samuel Correy, Vermont. 

Mr. Samuel Howard, Baltimore, Md. 
Mr. William Clark, Doston, Mass. 
Mr. Joseph Fosdick, do. do. 
Mr. Samuel Morrison, New-York. 
Mr. William Hull, do. 

Mr. William Atkins, Connecticut. 

Mr. Daniel Hotchkins, Salem, Mass. 

Mr. Thomas Carlton, Boston, do. 

Mr. John Migat, Warren, R. I. 

Mr. Cornelius Hoy, Baltimore, Md. 

Capt. Jesse S. Smith, Stoning-ton, Con. 

Mi*. James Sproson, New-York. 

Mr. Benjamin Wheeler, Baltimore, Md. 

Mi-. George Scott, , . 

Capt. Matthew S. Steel, Philadelphia, Penu 
Mr. W. P. Sevear, Baltimore, -Md. 
Capt ,!.;mes M'Quilter, do. do. 
Mr. John S. Miller, do. do. 



Vll 



Mr. Thomas Bailey, Salem, Mass. 

Mr. Warren Humphrey, Connecticut 

Mr. William Reu, Boston, Mass. 
Capt. Thomas Hussey, Hudson, N. Y. 
Capt. James Boggs, Philadelphia, Penn. 

Capt. James Gays, ■ Virginia. 

Capt. Thomas Mumford, Newport, R. f, 
Mr. Isaac Dowel, Baltimore, Md. 
Mr. Frederick G. Low, Cape-Ann. 

Mr Henry Bull, Connecticut, 

Doct Benjamin Mercer, New-York, 
Mr. Reuben Sherman, m ■ Mass, 



10 

citizenship. After the examination the officers 
who were entitled to their parole, '(such as com- 
manders and first lieutenants of privateers mount- 
ing fourteen guns, commanders and first mates of 
merchantmen, non combatants, &c.) received it, 
and were sent to the little village of Ashburton, in 
Devonshire, or Reading, in Berkshire ; the for- 
mer is situated about twenty-six miles inland from 
Plymouth, and the principal place of confinement 
for paroled officers. The town of Ashburton is 
pleasantly situated in a healthy and fertile part 
of the country, where every article of provision 
is more easily obtained and at a much cheaper rate 
than in many other parts of the kingdom. Here 
all the officers on parole had their names regis- 
tered and particular personal description taken of 
them. They had allowed them by the British 
government one shilling and six pence, which is 
equal to thirty-three and a quarter cents, money 
of the United States, per day each man. With 
this small allowance great numbers of paroled 
officers were compelled entirely to subsist, for 
having no other dependence and no friends in this 
country, they were obliged to purchase clothing, 
board and lodging, and all other necessaries of 
life, and to make use of every economy to pre- 
vent themselves from suffering, notwithstanding 
the cheapness of provisions, and the facility of 



11 

obtaining them. They were permitted during 
the day to walk one mile on the turnpike ioad 
towards London or Plymouth, and at a certain 
early hour every evening they had to retire to 
their respective lodgings, and there to remain till 
next morning ; those were their general restric- 
tions for all the days in the week, except two, on 
which every officer must answer at a particular- 
place appointed by their keepers, in the presence 
of their agent or inspector. In this manner some 
hundreds of officers were compelled to drag out 
a tedious existence in a state of painful solici- 
tude for their country, their homes and families, 
during the greater part of the late war. 

But the condition of the officers on parole was 
enviable indeed, when compared with that of the 
officers and others not entitled to that privilege. 
Every such person taken under the flag of the 
United States were sent to some one of the places 
before mentioned, and confined on board pri- 
son ships. The greatest number were sent to 
the Hector and La Brave, two line of battle ships 
which were unfit for his majesty's service at sea, 
and were now used for the confinement of priso- 
ners of war. These were placed under the com- 
mand of a lieutenant, master's mate, midshipman, 
and about twenty invalid seamen ; there is also a 
«;uard under the command of a lieutenant, ensign'. 



12 

and corporal, consisting of thirty-five soldiers to 
each or these ships. 

The Hector and La Brave lie about two miles 
ftvm Plymouth, well moored by chain moorings. 
Captain Edward Pelew, of the royal navy,the agent 
for prisoners of war, resides at this place. On 
the reception of all prisoners into their respec- 
tive prison ships, they were obliged to undergo a 
strict examination concerning their birth, place 
of residence, and age ; a complete and minute 
description of their person in all respects was ta- 
ken down in writing. After the examination, 
there was delivered to each man a very coarse 
and worthless hammock, with a thin coarse bed- 
sack, with at most not more than three or four 
pounds of flocks ui chopped rags, one thin coarse 
and sleazy blanket ; this furniture of the bed- 
chamber was to last for a year and a half before 
we could draw others. After the distribution of 
the bedding, we were informed of the rules and re- 
strictions which we must strictly observe. Eve 
ry ship has a physician attached to it, who is ever 
to be on board, and when any prisoner is sick, he 
is to repair immediately to a certain part of the 
ship for medical aid ; but seldom has he any at- 
tention paid him till the moment of dissolution, 
the doctors paying but little attention to the suf- 
fering prisoners, although a prisoner is seldom or 



13 

never suffered to expire on board ; for at the mo- 
merit death seems inevitably approaching, the 
prisoner is removed to a ship lying near by, called 
the hospital ship, where if he happen to survive 
the removal, he receives much better treatment 
and attendance ; but when once removed to that 
ship, they may bid adieu to their fellow prisoners, 
and most of them to sublunary things ; for not 
more than one out of ten ever recovers. 

We were then informed, that the Transport 
Board had most graciously and humanely, for the 
health and happiness of the prisoners, imposed on 
them the following duty ; to keep clean the ship's 
decks and hold ; to hoist in water, provisions, 
coal, and every other article expended or used in 
the ship ; and also to permit the prisoners to cook 
their own victuals, which consisted of the follow- 
ing rations allowed by the English government : 
To each man one pound and a half of very poor 
coarse bread, half a pound of beef, including the 
bone, one third of an ounce of salt, and the same 
quantity of barley, with one or two turnips, per 
man. These were the rations for five days in the 
week ; the other two were fish days, the ra- 
tions for which were one pound of salt fish, the 
same weight of potatoes, and the usual allowance 
«rf bread. 

Be 



14 

The confinement, and this scanty and meager 
diet for men who were brought up in a land of 
liberty, and ever used to feast on the luscious 
fruits of plenty, soon brought on a pale and sick- 
ly countenance, a feeble and dejected spirit, and a 
lean, half animate body. This bad state of liv- 
ing, 1 solemnly believe, has been the serious cause 
of inducing many valuable citizens of the United 
States to enter the king's service, to the great 
injury of their country. 

The prisoners are counted every night as they 
are ordered below by the guard ; and every mor- 
aing, about sun-rise, each prisoner is obliged to 
* ; take up his bed and walk ;" for he is ordered 
to shoulder his hammock and go on deck, and be 
counted with it on his shoulder. He then leaves 
his hammock on deck all day, and has permission 
to go below or remain on deck, as best suits his 
convenience. 

No prisoner is permitted to hold any corres- 
pondence, except by unsealed letters passing 
through the hands of the Board of Transport. No 
boat is permitted to come along-side the ship, un- 
less by permission of the commanding officer, and 
then must be strictly examined by the sentry, to 
prevent any liquor, newspapers, or candles, front 
coming among the prisoners \ these being proh'V 



15 

foited by the gracious and humane Board of Trans- 
port. 

For consolation in our present miserable con- 

3 dition, we were informed that the said honourable 
Board had indulgently permitted the American 
prisoners to establish and carry on any branch of 
manufacture, except such as netting, woollen fa- 

x brics, making straw hats and bonnets, &c. &c. ; or 
rather, they prohibited every branch of manufac- 

i tory which they were capable of pursuing. At 

I this time they could have carried on the making 
of straw into flats for bonnets with very conside- 
rable advantage, as almost every sailor was more 
or less capable of working at this art, and, by 
strict attention to the business, could have earned 
six or eight pence sterling per day : but this was 
not permitted, and we considered this prohibition 
a contrivance of the agents of government to in- 
duce the prisoners to enter his majesty's service. 
Their situation was now so abject and wretched, 
that they were willing to embrace any opportu- 
nity where there was the least prospect of better- 
ing their condition, however repugnant to their 
feelings or sentiments ; and though their country's 
interest was ever nearest to their hearts, yet, 
through the faint hope of ameliorating their con- 
dition, and some day or other of returning to 
*heir native land, their wives and families, some of 



16 

less fortitude were induced to join in arms agains 1 
their country. It could not be a crime ; for sel£ 
preservation is the first law of nature. 

From the first of our imprisonment, which was 
shortly after the commencement of the war, pri- 
soners were constantly arriving, and immediately 
disposed of in one or other of these depots : — 
among them were great numbers of American sea- 1 
men who had been delivered up from the different 
ships of war in the English service, on board or 
which they had remained from one to ten years ] 
and after receiving many dozen lashes at the gang- 1 
way of the ships, were sent to prison with the ap- 
pellation of " damned rebellious villains, unfit for 
his majesty's service 1" 

During the fall of the year one thousand eight 
hundred and twelve, until April in one thousand 
eight hundred and thirteen, the English had col- 
lected at the following depots the number herein- 
after mentioned, who were mostly prisoners deli- 
vered up from ships of war, and citizens of the 
United States detained in them for some time be- 
fore. At Chatham were collected about nine hun- 
dred ; at Portsmouth, about one hundred ; and at 
Plymouth, about seven hundred. These unfortu- 
nate men had often made application to Mr. Beas- 
ley, the agent for American prisoners of war, who 

ided in England, but were never able w ob- 



17 

tain an answer from him. At this time, great 
numbers of the oldest prisoners were completely 
destitute of clothing, and the most active and 
cleanly unable to avoid being covered with ver- 
min. 

On the second of April, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and thirteen, the Transport Board, appre- 
hending the escape of the prisoners, in conse- 
quence of their repeated threats to that purpose, 
issued an order to Captain Pelew, then agent for 
prisoners at Plymouth, to make preparation for 
removing all the prisoners then confined on board 
of the Hector prison-ship, at Plymouth, to the 
depot at Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, si- 
tuated seventeen miles from Plymouth, in the back 
country. 

These orders were accordingly made known to 
the prisoners 5 and on the morning of the third 
of April, they were. ordered on deck, with their 
hammocks, baggage, &c. in readiness to march to 
a prison, the very name of which made the mind 
of every prisoner " shrink back with dread, and 
startle at the thought ;" for fame had made them 
well acquainted with the horrors of that infernal 
abode, which was by far the most dreadful prison 
in all England, and in which it was next to impos- 
sible for human beings lon^ to survive, 



18 

Two hundred and fifty dejected and unhappy 
sufferers, already too wretched, were called, each 
of whom received a pair of shoes, and his allow- 
ance of bread and salt fish. Orders were then 
immediately given, for every man to deliver up 
his bed and hammock, and to repair forthwith in- 
to the different launches belonging to the ships of 
war, which were along-side the ship, ready to re- 
ceive them. The prisoners entered, surrounded 
by the guards and seamen belonging to the Hec- 
tor and La Brave. We were landed at New Pas- 
sage, near Plymouth, and were placed under the 
guard of a company of soldiers, equal in number 
to the prisoners ! Orders were then given to 
march at half past ten in the morning, with a po- 
sitive injunction that no prisoner should step out 
of, or leave the ranks, on pain of instant death. 
Thus we marched, surrounded by a strong guard, 
through a heavy rain, and over a bad road, with 
only our usual and scanty allowance of bread and 
fish. We were allowed to stop only once during 
the march of seventeen miles. 

We arrived at Dartmoor late in the after part 
of the day, and found the ground covered with 
snow. Nothing could form a more dreary pros- 
pect than that which now presented itself to our 
hopeless view. Death itself, with the hopes of 



19 

hereafter, seemed less terrible than this gloom) 
prison. 

The prison at Dartmoor is situated on the east 
side of one of the highest and most barren moun- 
tains in England, and is surrounded on all sides, 
as far as the eye can see, by the gloomy features 
of a black moor, uncultivated and uninhabited, ex- 
cept by one or two miserable cottages, just dis- 
cernible in an eastern view, the tenants of which 
live by cutting turf on the moor, and selling it at 
the prison. The place is deprived of every 
thing that is pleasant or agreeable, and is produc- 
tive of nothing but human woe and misery. Even 
riches, pleasant friends and liberty could not make 
it agreeable. It is situated seventeen miles dis- 
tant from Plymouth, fourteen from the town of 
$toorton, and seven from the little village of Ta- 
vastock. 

On entering this depot " of living death," we 
first passed through the gates, and found, our- 
selves surrounded by two huge circular walls, the 
outer one of which is a mile in circumference 
and sixteen feet high ; the inner wall is distant 
from the outer thirty feet, around which is a chain 
of bells suspended by a wire, so that the least 
touch sets every bell in motion, and alarms the 
garrison. On the top of the inner wall is placed 
■a guard at the distance of every twenty feet, 



20 

which frustrates every attempt to escape, and in- 
stantly quells every disorderly motion of the pri- 
soners. Between the two walls and over the in- 
termediate space, are also stationed guards. The 
soldiers' guard house, the. turnkey's office, and 
many other small buildings, are also within these 
two circular walls. Likewise several large com- 
modious dwelling-houses, which are occupied by 
the captain of the prison, doctor, clerks, turn- 
keys, &c. &c. Inside of the walls are erected 
large barracks, capacious enough to contain one 
thousand soldiers, and also a hospital for the re- 
ception of the sick. No pains have been spared 
to render the hospital convenient and comfortable 
for the sick prisoner. And certainly much credit 
is due to the director of this humane institution, 
whoever he may have been, for the attention paid 
to this most important appendage of an extensive 
prison. These last mentioned buildings, and 
several small store-houses, are enclosed by a third 
wall. These three ranks of walls form in this 
direction a barrier which is insurmountable. 

Thus much for the court-yard of this seminary 
of misery ; we shall next proceed to give a de- 
scription of the gloomy mansion itself. On en- 
tering, we found seven prisons enclosed in the fol- 
lowing manner, and situated quite within all the 
wails before mentioned. Prison No. I . 2 and S, 



are built of hard, rough, unhewn stone, three sto- 
ries high, one hundred and eighty feet long and 
forty broad ; each of these prisons, on an average, 
are to contain fifteen hundred prisoners. There 
is also attached to the yard of these prisons a 
house of correction, called a cachot ; this is built 
of large stone, arched above and floored with the 
same. Into this cold, dark, and damp cell, the un- 
happy prisoner is cast if he offend against the 
rules of the prison, either willingly or inadver- 
tently, and often on the most frivolous pretence. 
There he must remain for many days, and often 
weeks, on two thirds the usual allowance of food, 
without a hammock or a bed, and nothing but a 
stone pavement for his chair and bed. These 
three prisons are situated on the north side of the 
enclosure, as is also the cachot, and separated 
from the other prisons by a wall. Next to 
these is another, No. 4, which is equally as 
large as any of the others ; this is separated 
from all the others by a wall on each side, and 
stands in the centre of the circular walls. 

Adjoining to this, are situated, in rotation, pri- 
sons No. 5, 6, and 7, along the south side of the 
circular wall. To each prison is attached a small 
yard, with a constant run of water passing 
through it. 

C 



22 

After viewing this huge pile of building, and 
obtaining what little information we were able at 
this time, we were informed that these seven pri- 
sons contained a small family of French people, 
consisting of about eight thousand, who were al- 
so prisoners of war. Among these fluttering, 
ghastly skeletons, we were directed to take up 
our abode, and 'distribute ourselves as well as we 
could. 

We received our usual hammock and bed, and 
in conformity with our orders, repaired separately 
to one or other of six of these prison- ; the se- 
venth being allotted to those criminals who had 
committed misdemeanors, such as murder, lar- 
ceny on their fellow-prisoners, and other heinous 
©flences, which too frequently occurred. 

We entered the prisons ; but here the heart of 
every American was appalled. Amazement struck 
the unhappy victim ; for as he cast his hopeless 
eyes around the prison, he saw the wafer con- 
stantly dropping from the cold stone walls on eve- 
ry side, which kept the floor (made of stone) con- 
stantly wet, and cold as ice. 

All the prison floors were either stone or ce- 
ment, and each story contained but one apart- 
ment, and resembled long vacant horse stables. 
There were in each story six tier of joists for the 
prisoners to fasten their hammocks to. The 



2'.? 
Ct 

hammocks have a stick at each end to spread 
them out, and are hung in the manner of cots, 
four or five deep, or one above the other. On 
each side of the prison is left a vacancy for a pas- 
sage from one end of the prison to the other. We 
were then informed that the prisoners must be 
counted out and messed, six together, every morn- 
ing by the guards and turnkeys. 

During the month of April there was scarce a 
day but more or less rain fell. The weather 
here is almost constantly wet and foggy, on ac- 
count of the prison being situated on the top of a 
mountain, whose elevation is two thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. This height is equal 
to the plane on which the clouds generally float 
in a storm, the atmosphere not being dense 
enough to support heavy clouds much above that 
height ; almost every one that passes that way 
envelopes the top of the mountain in a thick fog 
and heavy torrent of rain. In winter the same 
cause makes as frequent snows as rain in summer. 
It is also some degrees colder during the whole 
year than in the adjacent country below. This 
too is occasioned by the great elevation of the 
top of the mountain, which is above the atmos- 
phere heated by the reflected rays of the sun 
upon the common surface of the earth, and being 
small of itself, reflects but little heat. These 



24 

two causes combined, produce constant cold and 
wet weather. 

Information was brought us that all prisoners in 
England were placed on a naval establishment, and 
under the direction of a naval officer. Capt. Isaac 
Cotgrave, of the royal navy, was the agent for 
prisoners of war at this depot. The Transport 
Board directed that a market should be held every 
day, in front of each prison yard. This market 
was supplied with provisions by the inhabitants of 
the adjacent country ; twenty or thirty of whom 
came every day, and furnished it with every kind 
of country produce. They were not allowed to 
impose on the prisoners, by demanding an exorbi- 
tant price for their produce ; the prices of every 
article were fixed by the turnkeys before they en- 
tered the yard, according to the prices in the 
nearest market-town. No person was permitted 
to enter within the first gate, without being strictly 
examined as to their business, and without giving 
a satisfactory account of themselves ; if they did 
this, they were then permitted tc enter and begin 
their trade. 

At the market, the French prisoners carry on a 
great traifick. They buy and sell, and are, ap- 
parently, as happy as if they were not imprisoned. 
Brit the Americans are not £o ; — they long for that 



(O K 

Jut J 

land of liberty, so dear to them, and sigh i'or 
their distant home. 

As this depot seems to be the most interesting 
scene of misery, we shall confine ourselves more 
particularly to the events which occurred here ; 
only touching, occasionally, upon the most im- 
portant events of the few prisoners at the other 
depots. 

From the commencement of the war, and pre- 
vious to April 1813, a great number of priso- 
ners had been sent home, by exchange. Numbers 
died, and some entered the service of Great Britain. 
The names of those who died, and those who en- 
tered the service, is mentioned in the catalogue 
hereunto annexed. About the first of May, Capt. 
Cotgrave gave orders to have all the American 
prisoners collected from the different prisons, and 
transferred to prison No. 4. 

In this prison were about nine hundred of the 
most abject and outcast wretches that were ever 
beheld. French prisoners, too wicked and mali- 
cious to live with their other unfortunate country- 
men : they were literally and emphatically naked ; 
having neither clothing or shoes, and as poor and 
meager in flesh as the human frame could bear. — ■ 
Their appearance was really shocking to human 
feeling. The mind cannot figure to itself any 
thing in the shape of men, which so much resem- 

C2 



26 

bled the fabled ghosts of Pluto, as these naked and 
starved French prisoners. Much of the misery 
and wretchedness of these creatures was owing to 
their imprudence and bad conduct. 

These men were now to be our associates, and 
we deprived of the privileges allowed heretofore 
to prisoners of war. As the gate of this yard is 
always kept shut, we could have no advantage of 
the markets, or connexion with the other prisoners ; 
while the French prisoners, in the other prisons, 
were allowed those benefits* 

The American prisoners now began to experi- 
ence a new scene of distress ; — the little clothing 
they had when they were taken, was either worn 
out or disposed of at a very reduced price, (not 
more than one tenth of the value.) to buy the very 
necessary articles of soap and tobacco. 

We remained in this situation, during the month 
of May, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, 
close confined in prison No. 4, with the liberty of 
that one yard. We often demanded of Capt. Cot- 
grave, the reason why such distinction was made 
between the American and French prisoners ; but 
were never able to obtain any other reason, than 
that his orders were issued from the Transport 
Board to :!o so. This month we received letters from 
our Fellow-prisoners at Chatham^ and those on 
board Uie prison Ships at Plymouth ; who iiubrm- 






21 

ed us of every particular of their situation at boil 
places ; but they were comparatively well off, when 
compared with our situation. The prisoners at 
Plymouth informed us, that other prisoners arri- 
ved there daily, and that they expected shortly to 
be removed, and to participate with us in the suf- 
ferings and misery of Dartmoor. 

On the twenty-ninth of May, the garrison which 
we found here, was removed and supplied by new 
regiments of soldiers. We learned, that no regi- 
ment is stationed here more than two or three 
months at a time. These guards consist of about 
twelve or fifteen hundred soldiers, who have been 
guilty of some oflence, disobedience of orders, or 
neglect of duty ; and are sent here as a punish- 
ment. By these soldiers we were informed of 
the particulars of the actions of the Java and 
Peacock. 

At this time we made known, in as respectful 
a manner as we could, all the particulars of our 
unhappy situation to Mr. Reuben G. Beasley, agent 
for American prisoners of war. We informed him 
that our allowance was too scanty, that the whole 
day's allowance was scarcely enough for one meal, 
that the greater part of the prisoners were in a 
state of nakedness ; and also, that great numbers 
had enlisted out of the prison, into the king's ser- 
vice. — That they had been compelled to do it, in 



28 

hopes to better their condition, and indeed to pre- 
serve life. For, as they were wholly neglected by 
the agent of their country, they saw no other means 
by which it was possible to preserve existence, — 
or ever to return to their country ; as they totally 
despaired of any exchange. 

At the same time we informed him, that unless 
something was done soon for our relief, we must all 
either (though reluctantly) enter the service of 
the enemy, or fall a sacrifice to famine and want. 

We informed him also of the distinction which 
was made between the French and American priso- 
ners. The former were allowed many privileges 
and advantages, which were denied the latter ; and 
that our treatment was contrary to what we con. 
sidered the custom and usage of civilized nations 
in modern warfare. That we were hurried into 
the prison-house before dark, locked up, to remain 
without any light or tire till seven or eight o'clock 
in the morning. 

! a prisoner had to leave his hammock, per 
necessitalcm, he was obliged to grope from one end 
of the prison to the other, and often could not re- 
gain it during the whole night. 

To all these petitions, complaints, and remon- 
strances, Mr. Beasley returned no answer, nor took 
any notice of them whatever; which, ol course, made 
every prisoner despair of any relief from him. — 



29 

, These letters could not miscarry, or be intercept- 
ed ; for we had formed a course of correspondence 
wi th several very respectable mercantile houses in 
London, through which our letters were sure to 
reach Mr. Beasley by private conveyance. 

The month of June commenced with deep dis- 
tress ; for disease was then added to nakedness 
and famine 5 and we were still more severely dealt 
by. For Doctor Dyer, who was head surgeon of 
the Hospital-department, would not permit an 
American prisoner to be brought into the Hospi- 
tal, until his complaint was completely confirmed, 
and often not until he was so weak, and reduced 
so low, that it would take four men to remove him 
on his hammock. For this conduct, he justified 
himself by saying, that he had been acquainted 
with the impositions of the Americans during the 
revolutionary war, and that these impositions were 
not to be played off on him any more. 

A moment's reflection must have convinced him, 

(that it was impossible for these men not to be sick, 
in their starved, naked, and wretched condition ; 
sleeping in a prison, whose walls were constantly 
wet and cold, occasioned by the constant rainy, 
foggy, and damp weather on this mountain. 

But he refused to admit the American prisoners 
into the Hospital, because, he said, such numbers 
would breed every kind of pestilence and disease 



30 



among the French prisoners. We attributed tb 
Is to the shameful and criminal neglect of 
Agent of American prisoners, whose conduct de- 
serves the; severest censure of every prisoner, i 
require? a strict and impartial investigation bv 
authority of his country. 

From the first to the fifteenth of May- we were 
every day called out of the prison and counted, to 
see if any remained in prison. The soldiers then 
entered the prison, and searched every hammock; if 
they found any prisoner, he was hastened out into 
the yard, though they were often found so weak 
and feeble, that it required assistance to enable 
them to walk. 

The guards discharged this duty with great re- 
luctance ; their feelings often revolted, when com- 
pelled to do this unkind office, and though accus- 
tomed to scenes of distress, were very sensibly 
touched at the miserable situation of these their 
fellow beings. 

On the eighteenth of May, we received letters 
from the other depots, and were informed that 
there were seven hundred prisoners at Plymouth, 
on board the Hector, which was so much crowded, 
that Captain Pelcw, of the Royal Navy, and princi- 
pal agent of the Board, had received orders from 
the Board, to remove the prisoners to other depots, 
cither to that of Chatham, Dartmoor, or Stapleton, 



31 

ft is near Bristol. This last place was fixed 
on by the Board as a necessary precaution to pre- 
vent any disturbance, which was apprehended 
might arise, should too many American prisoners 
be confined in one place. 

Accordingly, on the twehtjr-eightfe. Captain Pc- 
lew ordered two hundred and fifty to be landed 
from the Hector, and marched to Dartmoor. They 
arrived there on the same day, ajjd after going 
through the same manoeuvre as the first draft, they 
were committed to No. 4. These, together with 
the former draft, made four hundred and seventy 
Americans, and seven hundred naked outcast 
French, all intermixed in one prison. 

Care was taken to keep the yard of this prison 
always locked, to prevent us from going to mar- 
ket. By this means, all we obtained from the 
market came through the hands of the French pri- 
soners in the other prisons, who obliged us to pay 
twenty-five per cent, above the market price for 
all we had. At this time, about thirty were mis- 
sifig out of the number, some dead, and others had 
enlisted into the king's service. 

On the twenty-ninth, fifty more American pri- 
soners were transported from on board the Hec- 
tor, in a ship of war, round to Chatham. Two 
only at a time were permitted to come on deck ; 
the others were compelled to remain below, with- 



§2 

out hammock, bed, or blanket. I leave tlie reader 
to judge whether this measure arose from wanton 
cruelty in those immediately concerned, or whe- 
ther it was absolutely necessary to prevent their 
escape, or rising and taking the ship, which had 
her whole crew on board. 

On the thirtieth, two hundred prisoners were 
ordered to go ashore, who accordingly made them- 
selves ready, and landed at New Passage, under a 
guard of seamen and marines. Here they were 
received by a guard of soldiers, consisting of two 
hundred and fifty, who were to convey them on 
ibot one hundred and thirty-four miles to Staple- 
ton, within a few miles of Bristol. 

Stapleton is a pleasant situation, and is a fine 
healthy country ; but the fatigue of the journey*, 
the restrictions and inconvenience to which the 
prisoners were subjected, presented to them a 
melancholy prospect. 

At tlie commencement of their journey, they 
were provided with a shilling (twenty-two and a 
half cents) per day, for their travelling expenses. 
This was all the allowance made them to purchase 
food, drink, 'and lodging : and they were to per- 
form the whole journey in eight days. They were 
also particularly enjoined not to leave the ranks 
on pain of death, and the guard had orders to 
despatch any prisoner who should attempt to es- 



33 

cape. The particulars of their march, their arr- 
val at Stapleton, and treatment at that place, will 
be mentioned hereafter. 

On the 1st of July, two hundred more were or- 
dered from on board the Hector, to march and 
share with us the miseries of Dartmoor. They 
were landed as usual, and marched under a strong 
guard to that mountain of wretchedness, and af" 
ter passing through the usual forms at their arri- 
val, were received into Prison No. 4, and might 
justly have exclaimed, in the language of an emi- 
nent poet, " Hail, horrors ! hail, thou profoundest 
hell • receive thy new possessor." For every one 
ordered to this prison, counted himself lost. 

On the third of July, another draft of prison- 
ers, consisting of about two hundred and fifty, 
were taken from the Hector, and sent to Staple- 
ton, under the usual guard, allowance, and re- 
strictions. 

The fourth of July, the birth-day of our nation, 
had now arrived. The American prisoners, feel- 
ing that fire of patriotism, and that just pride and 
honour, which fills the bosom of every American, 
when that great day of jubilee arrives, roused all 
their drooping spirits, and prepared to celebrate 
it in a manner becoming their situation. We had 
by some means obtained two American standards ' 
and being upward of six hundred in number, we 

D 



34 

divided into two columns, and displayed our flags 
at each end of the prison. Of the propriety of 
the proceedings, I leave the reader to judge. We 
were, however, resolved to defend them till the 
last moment : but Captain Cotgrave, either from 
a determination to depress our spirits as much as 
possible, that we might the more readily be indu- 
ced to enter the service of the king, or that an 
enemy's flag should not be hoisted in their coun- 
try, ordered the turnkeys to enter the prison-yard, 
and take the colours from us. We returned him 
an answer, that the day was the birth-day of free- 
dom, and the anniversary of our nation ; and that. 
he would confer on us a particular favour, if he 
would permit us to enjoy it with a decorum and 
propriety suited to our situation as prisoners of 
war. We added this arrogant condition, that u 
he should persist in attempting to take that flag 
which we should ever respect, in whatever coun- 
try we were, he must abide by the consequences. 
Captain Cotgrave, being irritated at this haughty 
and independent language, ordered the guard into 
the prison-yard to take the standards from us. 
An obstinate resistance was made. After some 
time spent in fighting for the flags, the guard ob- 
tained one : the prisoners bore oft* the other in 
triumph, and secured it. The remainder of the 
day was spent in harmony and quietness. At 



35 

evening, when the guards came as usual to turn 
us into the prison, a dispute arose upon the piti- 
ful revenge sought for in depriving the prisoners 
of their flag. This soon grew into an affray ; the 
guards fired upon the prisoners, and wounded 
two, which ended the affray. 

From the disturbance on the evening of the 
fourth, nothing remarkable took place, the priso- 
ners being generally tolerable quiet and peace- 
able till the tenth, when a dispute arose between 
the French and American prisoners in the yard of 
No. 4 ; the dispute was quite warm, and pervaded 
nearly all the prisoners of both nations, each of 
whom espoused the cause of his fellow prisoner. 
Things were not pushed to extremities this even- 
ing, the hour to turn in prevented their further 
progress ; but animosities had not subsided. At 
this time the French prisoners occupied the two 
upper stories of prison No. 4 ; they consisted of 
about nine hundred outcasts from the other pri- 
sons, as we had occasion to mention before. 
They had during the night, with malice prepense, 
concerted a plan to massacre the Americans. 
With this design, they had provided themselves 
with knives, clubs, stones, staves, and every kind 
of weapon they could obtain. 



36 

Thus armed, they had managed to be in the 
yard first in the morning, and arrayed themselves 
to give battle as soon as a sufficient number of 
Americans should come out. Accordingly, when 
about one hundred and twenty had entered the 
yard, this group of naked malignity began the 
attack with desperate fierceness ; the Americans, 
unsuspicious of an attack, were of course unarm- 
ed, and at first could make no resistance ; but after 
recovering from the surprise which so sudden an 
attack had created, they made an attempt to ral- 
ly ; but the Frenchmen cutting oft' their retreat 
into the prison and preventing those within from 
joining or rendering any assistance, soon caused 
the Americans to fall a prey to their superior 
number. Before the guards could interfere to 
prevent the farther proceedings, the Americans 
were mostly stabbed or knocked down with hea- 
vy stones, and mangled in a most shocking man- 
ner. What would have been the issue, had not 
the guards entered, and by charging on both par- 
ties put a stop to the battle, is difficult to tell. 
On examining the wounded, fortunately none 
were killed ; it appeared that about twenty on 
both sides were badly, and many others slightly 
wounded. The former were taken to the hospi- 
tal, and though apparently dangerous, in a short 
time all recovered. Captain Cotgrave immedi- 



ately informed the Board of Transport of this un- 
happy event ; but painted it in such dark colours 
on the side of the Americans, that the Board gave 
answer, that the Americans were totally different 
from all other men, and unfit to live in any so- 
ciety. " If the household be devils, what is the 
master of the house ?" Did not the Americans 
descend from England ? 

The yard of No. 4 was ordered to be divided, 
which w r as done by a wall fifteen feet high, which 
cut off all communication with the Americans, and 
their late meager associates. This act, though 
it seemed to have been done to injure the Ameri- 
cans, certainly created no regret ; for instead of 
doing them an injury, it was a great relief to be. 
disencumbered of that outcast tribe. 

A spark of momentary joy may burst through 
the darkest clouds of grief, and hope for a mo- 
ment make us forget our miseries. On the twen- 
ty-ninth of this month, Captain Cotgrave received 
orders to remove one hundred and twenty Ameri- 
cans from this prison to Chatham, which was to 
be the complement of a cartel ship then lying at 
that place ; this embraced the greater part of the 
prisoners captured before January 1813. There 
remained of those captured, before and after that 
time, 1200 at Chatham, 400 at Stapleton, and a 

few less than 500 at Dartmoor, some on board 

D2 



38 

the prison ships, and a number of officers on parole 
at Ashburton. The greater part of these had been 
delivered up from ships of war. 

At the close of this month, forty-five were 
found to have entered the service of the enemy, 
and fifteen had died at this place, seven or eight 
at Chatham, and not one at Stapleton. 

At the commencement of August, we found 
ourselves limited and very much straitened in our 
t-egulations. We were not permitted to go out of 
the yard. A more alarming scene of distress 
ihan any we had before experienced, now pre- 
sented itself before us, and death seemed to be 
the inevitable lot of every man. 

The King of Terrors daily reached forth his 
inexorable hand, and removed the sufferer from the 
pale of this clay tenement ; for the small-pox had 
^ot among the prisoners, and its ravages were so 
alarming, that every prisoner expected each day 
would be his last •, for numbers died daily. 

The prisoners who remained able, collected 
themselves together, and formed a committee of cor- 
respondence, who, by bribing the guards, convey- 
ed letters daily to Mr. Beasley ; particularly de- 
scribing their situation, that they were almost na- 
ked, and defrauded by the Contractor of half 
their rations, which before were but one third 
enough. That the small-pox had got among them 



39 

and numbers died daily — that they were covered 
with animalcula, and unless he could do something 
for their relief, they must all perish together. 

To these complaints he paid no kind of atten- 
tion, neither came to see whether they were true 
or false, nor cent any answer either written or 
verbal. 

The reader can easily figure to himself what 
must have been our feelings, when five hundred 
men, closely confined in one apartment, with that 
mortal epidemick among them without any assis- 
tance, or possibility of escape. 

The evil must lie some where ; we were in doubt 
whether to believe it was the will of the general 
government, of the people at large of this country, 
or whether it was not entirely the fault of our 
Agent, in not seeing that all the officers in whose 
immediate care we were, acted the honest part in 
the performance of those duties, which both this 
government and that of the United States had in- 
trusted to them. It was not a general thing, and 
the evil was near at hand. The prisoners at Ha- 
lifax fared well ; they did not, nor could not, com- 
plain ; prisoners in other places in England were 
tolerably well provided for. 

After so many fruitless applications to our agent, 
we despaired of any relief from that quarter, and 
then made application to Capt. Cotgrave, and de» 



40 

manded of him, what provisions the government 
of England made for prisoners of war, when ne- 
glected by their own government. He gave us 
every opportunity to search out the fault, by pro- 
ducing the following printed rules and regulations, 
made by the T ransport Board. 

;i The honourable Transport Board have made 
arrangements with certain Agents or Contractors^ 
to supply all prisoners of war, as follows : 

Each prisoner to receive per day, for five days 
in the week, one and a half pounds of coarse 
brown bread ; one half pound of beef, including 
tbc bone ; one third of an ounce of barley : the 
same quantity of salt ; one third of an ounce of 
onions ; and one pound of turnips. The residue 
of the week, the usual allowance of bread ; one 
pound of pickled-fish, and just a sufficient quanti- 
ty of coals to cook the same. These to be served 
out daily by the Contractors." 

We watched the Contractor, and found he wckh- 
ed all the articles at once, neat weight ; and saw 
him scrimp the weight, to fill his pocket out of the 
prisoners' bellies. 

On beef days, the whole is thrown into a large 
copper, when it is sufficiently boiled, the bone is 
taken out, and each mess, consisting of six, re- 
ceives twenty-seven ounces of beef, and one gal- 
lon and one pint of soup. 



41 

On the fish days, every mess boiled their pota- 
toes and fish in a net made of rope-yarn, that they 
might have it separately to themselves ; after it 
was boiled, it was taken up in wooden buckets, 
with which each mess were provided ; and each 
prisoner, being also furnished with a wooden 
spoon, sets round the bucket, on the wet floor, and 
makes a fierce attack. 

After making these, and some other demands, 
which we considered ourselves entitled to, most 
of which were immediately granted, but some de- 
layed, as we shall note hereafter, our sufferings 
were somewhat relieved. 

Could not these have been removed by our 
Agent long before ? We find but few men so 
honest that they do not need looking to sometimes 
by those who are interested in their honesty. — 
These Contractors would have been as honest as 
many other men with sharp looking after. Was 
it not, then, the duty of Mr. Beasley to see that 
the prisoners had what the government of England 
allowed them ? If it was not, what was his duty 1 
Was he sent there, as the log of wood in the fable 
was sent by Jupiter into the pond, to be god for 
the frogs ? 

We found, by the printed regulations delivered 
us by Capt. Cotgrave, the government allowed each 
prisoner a hammock, one blanket, one horse-rug; 



42 , 

:ind a bed, containing four pounds of flocks ; thest 
•articles too were to serve us two years. By the 
same regulations, the prisoners were to receive for 
clothing, every eighteen months, one yellow 
round-about jacket, one pair of pantaloons, and a 
waistcoat of the same materials, as the government 
of England allow for their soldiers ; and one pair 
of shoes and one shirt, every nine months. The 
shirt, though coarse, was a change which we had 
not had for a long time before. All these we de- 
manded and received ; we also received a woollen 
cap, which was to serve us eighteen months. 

I cannot leave this subject without some little 
description of several of the articles of clothing. 
I will begin with the cap, and take them in their 
natural order, from head to foot. 

The cap was woollen, about an inch thick, and 
seemed to have been spun in a rope-walk, but 
much coarser than common rope-yarn. The jacket 
was not large enough to meet around the smallest 
of us, although reduced to mere skeletons by such 
continued fasting ; the sleeves came about half way 
down the arm, and the hand stuck out like a spade : 
the waistcoat was short; it would not meet before, 
nor down to the pantaloons; thus leaving a space 
between of three or four inches ; the pantaloons, 
which were as tight as our skin itself, came down 
to the middle of the shin. The shoes, which wa's 



43 

the pedestal for all the ornam?rtts above, were 
made of list, interwoven and fastened to pieces of 
wood an inch and a half thick. The figure we made 
in this dress was no common one. 

** Spectatum admissi visum teneatu amici ?"" Hor. A. P. 

" My friends, were you admitted to see this sight, 
could you keep from laughing V> When you see 
us tackled, and put upon runners — skeletons as 
we were. 

By the regulations handed us, we also found 
that the Board allowed a sweeper to every hun- 
dred men, to sweep and keep clean the prison, 
who was to be taken from among the prisoners, 
and allowed by the government three pence per 
day ; and one out of every two hundred was al- 
lowed four pence halfpenny a day for cooking. 
In like manner, a barber had three pence ; and 
the nurses in the hospital, six pence a day. All 
these offices were occupied by Frenchmen, as was 
also the employments in the mechanic arts at six 
pence per day. 

During this month great numbers died of the 
small-pox, and some of other diseases. Several 
entered the king's service. Suspicions had ari- 
sen, that several taken in arms against Great-Bri- 
tain, were British subjects : they were conse- 
quently taken out, and charged with having com- 
mitted high treason. That they were taken m 



44 

afftfS against Great-Britain, was not denied ; bat 
that they were her subjects, which was the most 
essential part of the charge, could not be proved : 
they were consequently acquitted, and remanded 
to prison. 

We had but one clear day during the whole 
month of August. 

September commenced, and we remained in the 
situation just described. The prisoners continued 
very sickly. 

Men, otherwise commonly honest, when redu- 
ced to extreme necessity, naturally resort to the 
commission of crimes. It is a maxim strikingly 
•.rue, that " hunger will break through a stone 
wall ;" and it is equally true, that it will break 
through all moral obligation. Honesty and inte- 
grity are but mere chimeras in dire necessity. — 
Such was our situation, that it resembled more a 
state of nature than a civilized society. Petty 
larcenies were daily committed among the prison- 
ers ; brothers and the most intimate friends steal- 
ing from each other. To provide a remedy 
against this evil, we appointed a legislative body, 
to form a code of laws for the punishment of all 
such misdemeanors. A tribunal was also formed 
to try and convict all criminals according to law 
and evidence. Many were tried, found guilty, 
and sentenced to receive twenty-lour lashes equal- 



45 



\y as severe as is given at the gangway of a man- 
of-war ship. 

To show the force of habit, though it is a vi- 
cious one, we will give the reader a striking ex- 
ample. Some of the prisoners were so attached 
to chewing tobacco, that they sold all their day's 
allowance of beef to the French at the gate, to 
purchase one chew. They sometimes sold this al- 
lowance to buy soap enough to wash one shirt, 
but this was only enduring one evil to remedy a 
worse. 

By letters received from our fellow prisoner? 
on board ' he Crowned Prince, and the Nassau, 
prison ships at Chatham, we received information 
that the Americans were distributed among the 
French prisoners on board the several different 
ships at that place, and very severely used ; that 
they had vainly addressed Mr. Beasley, and that 
several had died and numbers entered the British 
service. 

By letters received from Stapleton, we were in- 
formed oi the particulars of their march from Fly- 
mouth, which Ave promised to give the reader in a 
former part of this work. The reader will re- 
member, that at the commencement of their jour- 
ney, they were allowed a shilling a day for travel- 
ling expenses, and on their way, they had to pay 
three pence a night to lodge in a barn, or sonic 

E 



46 

public building, on straw ; as they were allowed 
a shilling onl) r , this took one quarter of the 
whole. With much ado they reached Stapleton ; 
they found the prison at that place well con- 
structed for the convenience of the prisoners, 
within a short distance of the city of Bristol ; 
which is the third city in England, and situated in 
Somersetshire, at the coniiux of the river Avon, 
with the small stream of the Froom, about ten 
miles from the mouth of the Severn; these, and 
several other small tributary streams, running 
through a fertile country, bring into market all 
kinds of provisions and fruits common to the 
country, which are sold at a much cheaper rate 
than at most other places in the kingdom. From 
these sources, the market at Stapleton, which is 
kept every day at the prison, is supplied with all 
kinds of market produce. On their arrival they 
found live thousand French prisoners. There 
are three prisons enclosed and garrisoned in the 
same manner as those at Dartmoor ; they vv ere 
distributed among the French prisoners in the 
different prisons. They had also written to Mr. 
Beasley several times, and informed him, that their 
situation was bad, although much better than that 
at Dartmoor, and required his attention. Dm 
he was determined to tnkc no notice. They 
therefore concluded, that no arrangement was to 



47 

be made for their exchange, or that any assistance 
was to be offered from the government of the 
United States, made necessity an excuse for enter- 
ing the service of the enemy of their country ; 
which many did at that place. 

How far this is a crime, when we consider the 
quo animo ? I shall take this opportunity to show 
what is the custom of nations, and what appears 
to be the law of nature. It is said, " If a person 
be under circumstances of actual force and con- 
straint, through a well-grounded apprehension cf 
injury to his life or person, this fear, or compul- 
sion, will excuse his even joining with either rebels 
or enemies in the kingdom, provided he leaves 
them whenever he hath a safe opportunity." 

Now to return to Dartmoor. At a time when 
the prisoners had despaired of any relief, and be- 
gan to reconcile themselves to their hard fate, 
they were very agreeably surprised to hear that 
Mr. Reuben G. Eeasley had condescended to visit 
them, and then waited at the gate for admittance. 
The idea, that their deliverer had come, diffused a 
general joy through the whole prison, and " light- 
ed up a smile in the aspect of woe." The sol- 
diers and guards were ordered into the prison, and 
turned out every man,, both sick and well ; over- 
hauled the hammocks, swept the prison, and open- 
ed the window-shutters : all £lth was removed' 



48 

and every thing made clean, for the first time 
since our arrival. The guards were then station- 
ed at the door, to prevent any prisoner from go- 
ing in, to have any communication with the Agent : 
we were told, that no man could speak to him, 
or have any communication with him whatever. 
At three o'clock, the entrance of Mr. Beasley was 
announced by the turnkeys. We arranged our- 
selves in the yard, in anxious expectation of the 
glad tidings lie might bring. He appeared, at- 
tended with his clerks, the clerks of the prison, 
and a very numerous train of soldiers. As he 
entered the yard of the prison, we presented a 
frightful appearance, in our yellow uniform, wooden 
shod, and meager, lantern-jaws. He felt the sight, 
and seemed much surprised at the group. We 
stood in silent expectation ; he moved along to the 
prison - y but how were our feelings damped at thi s 
moment ! when we expected from him the lan- 
guage of consolation and relief, he only uttered, 
in a careless tone to his clerks, " that he did not 
think that the number had been so great j" 

He entered, and cast his eyes around the cold 
wet walls of the prison, and seemed to say, with a 
shrug of his shoulders, " I am glad that it is not I 
that is to live here." When he returned, we were 
determined to have some conversation with him. 
We therefore collected round him, demanded 



49 

wiiLit arrangements were made for our relief, 
whether we must expect to remain in our present 
condition ? Telling him, that if we must, that 
we could not long survive ; and presenting him 
with a list of names of those who had already en- 
tered the king's service ; and telling him all the 
particulars of our distress. He then opened his 
mouth, and said, he had no power to do any 
thing, nor any funds to do with : but he would 
do his endeavour. We asked him the cause of so 
great a difference in the treatment of the prisoners 
here and at Halifax I There they had all the ne- 
cessaries and conveniences of life ; here we had 
none of them. We asked him to whom we should 
apply for relief in future ? We told him we had. 
been to great expense, heretofore, and much trou- 
ble, in conveying letters to him, while he had not 
thought fit to answer. He said the exchange of 
prisoners was stopped for the present year, and 
that we could not expect to have our condition 
altered. With these unwelcome observations, he 
went immediately out of the gates, and left us to 
all the wretchedness of despair. 

We returned into the prison, lamenting our fate, 
Some cursed the day they were born ; some, the 
day of their captivity ; some attributed all their 
sufferings to the inattention of the Agent, and 
others, to the government of the United States, 

K2 



50 

We retired to our hammocks, and gave vent to our 
feelings in sighs and tears. 

The thought that we must forego all the endear- 
ments of life, and perish together, in a foreign 
country, among our enemies, was too much for our 
feelings to bear. The groans of the disconsolate 
and sick filled the whole prison. Our Agent not 
empowered to act, and without funds. We had 
now only to look to heaven, whose will it was to 
bring us to this state, and through whose mercy 
alone we could hope to find relief. 

The winter was fast approaching, and the cold 
upon this mountain was very severe. The small- 
pox still continued, and the measles had got 
among us, and great numbers were sick with both 
diseases. The next day, conceiving they had no 
other alternative, a great number entered the 
British service ; rather hazarding the chance of 
escape, and censure of their country, than to 
trust life to the perils of this prison. 

Although I am a little before some part of my 
story, I must not forget to mention, that about 
the middle of September, another draft was taken 
from the Hector, now at Hamoaze, near Ply- 
mouth ; among which were the crew of the Uni- 
ted States' brig Argus, taken by the Pelican. 
One Robinson, who had belonged to the Argus, 
had declared, that several of the crew of that ves- 



61 

sel were British subjects. And immediately 
seventeen, whom he pointed out, were taken and 
conveyed on board the receiving ship, St. Salva- 
dor, and put into close confinement, there to 
await their trial and execution, should they be 
found guilty. The boatswain, and a number of 
others, wounded in the action, were conveyed to 
the hospital, in Mill-prison at Plymouth. 

At the end of this month a great number had 
died, and numbers down with all complaints, pre- 
valent in crowded camps or prisons. The weather 
much like the month before. 

By letters, received the tenth of October, from 
Chatham and Stapleton, we were informed, that 
Mr. Beasley had visited them, and his conduct and 
language at those places were the same as at this 
depot. By the letters from Chatham, we had an 
account of eighteen making their escape, by cut- 
ting a hole through the side of the Crown Prince, 
at that place ; that afterwards the guard were in- 
creased and more vigilant. 

On the sixteenth, Capt. Cotgrave gave orders^ 
by directions of the Transport Board, to have all 
these outcast Frenchmen in No. 4 collected. This 
took four hundred and thirty-six from the prison, 
and much relieved us. 

Before I proceed on with the remainder of my 
story, I cannot but here observe, the strange effect 



52 

habit and corruption have in changing our common 
nature. They had been many of them ten years 
in this prison in a state of perfect nudity, and had 
been so for many years ; had slept upon the bare 
stone-floor without covering for many years ; till 
the flesh had acquired a sort of hardness, like the 
stones themselves. 

This was the effect of gambling, which had ac- 
quired a greater power over them than hunger or 
nakedness. Whenever they were supplied with 
clothing, they never put them on, but turned to 
gambling, till they had lost the whole. They had 
often been supplied by their countrymen in the 
other prisons, with hammocks, beds, and clothing : 
but they no sooner got possession of them, than 
they went to the grating of the other prisons, and 
sold them, and gambled the whole away. It is diffi- 
cult for the mind to conceive, how human beings 
could be possessed of fewer virtues or more vices ; 
cr how they could any further change their common 
nature to a bestial one without the assistance of a 
Supreme Being. It is a remarkable fact, that these 
men (if they yet deserve the name) were more 
healthy, though stark naked winter and summer 
for ten years, than any prisoners at this depot ; 
though to the number of nine thousand. 

The French prisoners never received any assis- 
tance from the French government, but depended 



53 

entirely on the British. Though I cannot praise 
the general acts of the latter government, nor am 
I disposed to flatter ; yet they did a humane act 
which certainly deserves credit. They took these 
four hundred and thirty-six Frenchmen out of this 
prison, clothed them well, and put them on board a 
prison-ship at Plymouth, separate from all other 
men, except their guards, who carefully watched 
them, and prevented them from disposing of their 
clothes, and kept them decent during the remain- 
der of their captivity. 

In the six prisons, occupied by the French priso- 
ners, is carried on almost every branch of the me- 
chanick arts. They resemble little towns, being 
mostly soldiers ; every man has his separate occu- 
pation ; his work-shop, his store-house, his coffee- 
house, his eating-house, &c. &c. ; he is employed 
in some business or other. 

There are many gentlemen of large fortunes 
here, who having broke their parole, were com- 
mitted to close confinement. These were able to 
support themselves in a genteel manner ; though 
they were prisoners, they drew upon their bankers 
in other parts of Europe. 

They manufactured shoes, hats, hair, and bone- 
work. They likewise, at one time, carried on a very 
lucrative branch of manufactory. They forged 



54 

notes on the Bank of England, to the amount oi 
one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling ; 
and made so perfect an imitation, that the cashier 
could not discover the forgery ; and very much 
doubted the possibility of such imitation. 

They also carried on the coining of silver, to a 
very considerable advantage ; they had men con- 
stantly employed outside cf the yard, to collect all 
the Spanish dollars they could, and bring into pri- 
son. Out of every dollar they made eight smooth 
English shillings ; equally as heavy, and passed as 
well as any in the kingdom. 

Whether they are constituted by nature to en- , 
dure hardships, or so long confinement has got 
them wonted to live in prisons, I will not venture to 
say ; but they really seem easy under it, live well, . 
and make money to lay up. n f 

They drink, sing and dance, talk of their women 
in the day-time, and, like Horace, dream of them at 
Right ; but I have not heard of any issue by this 
visionary connexion. But the Americans have not 
that careless volatility, like the cockle in the fable, 
to sing and dance when their house is on fire ovcr 
them. 

When any one has committed a crime, or be- 
comes a nuisance among them, he is condemned, 
and sent to No. 4, to remain during his captivity ; 
so thf Americans must dwell among the damned. 



60 

6n the twenty-eighth, a large corps of French 
prisoners, taken at the battle near St. Sebastian, 
in Spain, arrived at this depot, and took their 
abode among the other Frenchmen. At this time, 
a very mortal distemper prevailed among the 
French prisoners, that carried off eight or ten every 
day. 

When any one dies in the Hospital, his body is 
removed to the Dead-house, a place made for 
that purpose ; after being Stripped of his clothes, 
shirt and all, (which go to the government, or the 
nurse of the deceased.) the body is then opened, 
to learn the nature of the disease ; it is afterwards, 
quite naked, put into a coarse shell, made of rough 
pine boards, and remains in the Dead-house for 
several days, till a number is collected in the same 
manner : when a sufficient number is heaped to- 
gether to call their attention, a large hole is dug 
back of the prison, and all thrown in together, with- 
out form or ceremony. 

The hospital department consists of a surgeon^ 
;wo assistants, and as many male nurses as are 
necessary. Every morning, at nine o'clock, orders 
are given, by the ringing of bells, that every priso- 
ner, wanting relief or medical aid, must repair to 
the Hospital to be examined, and receive prescrip- 
tions •, he then returns to the prison, where he re- 
mains till carried in again. 



56 

The sickness among the Americans somewhat 
abated the latter end of this month. Many enter- 
ed the king's service. As the recruiting officers 
receive a premium on every soldier they enlist for 
his majesty, they used every inducement in their 
power. An officer belonging to a Dutch regiment. 
thought it a good opportunity to mock de gildt, en- 
tered the yard, and began to solicit men to enlist 
into the regiments to go against the United States ; 
but the Americans took this the greatest insult, that 
such a booby should think of getting them to fight 
against their country ; they soon hustled Mynheer 
out of the yard, and frustrated all his hopes of 
gain. 

The majority of the prisoners used every 
means in their power to prevent our countrymen 
from entering the enemy's service. We often, on 
discovering the intention of any one to enlist into 
their service, fastened him up to the grating and 
(logged him severely, and threatened to despatch 
them secretly, if they did not desist ; but attempts 
were vain ; they justified themselves on the plea 
of self-preservation ; that there was a possibility 
of escaping and saving their lives ; and if detected 
by their country, their death was distant, but here 
it was speedy and certain. 

Capt. Cotgrave, perceiving the great exertiens 
that were made to prevent any entering his ma- 



jesly's service, adopted a plan to eneourage i& 
When any one was known to be disposed that way, 
he would send him a line, and inviie him to come 
to the guard-house, where the other prisoners 
could have no communication with him : here he 
was kept till a number sufficient for a draft was 
collected, then sent to Plymouth, and put on beard 
a receiving ship, and received their bounty. About 
one draft a month commonly took place. 

November. The weather is much similar to that 
of the state of New-York at the same season 5 rain, 
snow, and hail, almost every day : the prisoners 
without stockings, and many had been so un- 
thoughtful of the future, as to sell their jackets to 
buy food ; and the whole dress allowed them was 
no more than sufficient in the most clement sea- 
son, the prisons being always damp, and the 
weather very ramy. We were allowed no fuel ; 
some had also sold their hammocks, blankets, and 
beds, to the French. These thoughtless wretches 
were now obliged to sleep, or rather lie upon the 
stones the whole night, and when there happened 
a fine day, which was seldom, it was with the great- 
est difficulty the guards could rouse them from 
this stupor, and get them into the yard. We 
dreaded the winter. 

We received letters from our fellow-prisoners at 

other prisons, informing us, that they had appked 

^F 



58 

to Mr. Beasley, and advising us to do the same, 
which we had already done ; they wished to be 
informed of our situation ; this was done in 
poetry. 

The time had now expired for relieving the 
present guard ; this being done, its place was sup- 
plied by a Scotch regiment- Sympathy glowed 
in the minds of these gallant fellows ; no nobler 
act has nature done than form the heart that feels 
for other's woes. They felt for ours, and though 
enemies, at the peril of life relieved them ; it 
was an act that superior beings might behold with 
admiration. Touched with this tie of nature, 
when ordered to bring out every prisoner into the 
yard, sick or naked, they often pitied him, gave 
him some relief, and left him behind ; though 
ordered to cut him down or run him through, if 
he offered to remain. 

They supplied us with late papers, and gave us 
all the account they could of the affairs in Ameri- 
ca. They cheered us with the agreeable account 
of the Essex, and her success in the South Seas : we 
had friends that pitied us, though they could not 
greatly relieve us. 

About this time a few prisoners from Plymouth* 
lately captured, and lately from the states, arrived 
at this depot. 



09 

The news they bring of the success of the Ameri- 
can arms, animates every soul, and for a moment 
we forgot our troubles. By them the account of 
the Bo^er and Enterprise, the complete victory of 
commodore Perry on Lake Erie, is given us, but 
no hope of exchange or prospect of peace. No 
alteration in our treatment by government ; the 
prisoners not permitted out of yard No. 4. The 
French go any where through the several pri- 
sons ; go to market, but the Americans net permit- 
ted to. The government grew more strict in their 
enlistments ; they would receive none but regularly 
bred sailors, and no invalids. 

At the latter end of this month a great number 
of prisoners taken under the American flag claimed 
a release from confinement, and showed that they 
owed their allegiance by birth to powers in alliance 
with Great Britain. To Holland, Sweden, and 
other places, and are released on account of their 
neutrality. 

Weather very cold all the month. The prison- 
ers without shoes or clothes, obliged to keep their 
hammock. Fewer deaths than the month before. 
Yard covered with snow. 

Dec. cold increasing. Prisoners in despair. 
Capt. Cotgrave ordered the prisoners to turn out 
every morning at the hour of nine, and stand in the 
yard till the guards counted them ; this generally 



00 

look more than an hour. Many of the prisoners 
were without stockings, and some without shoes* 
and many without jackets. They cut up their 
hi tnkets to wrap up their feet and legs, that they 
snight be able to endure the cold and snow while 
thoy were going through this ceremony. We com- 
plained to the captain of this practice, and told him 
it v> as too severe for the prisoners to endure ; he 
said it was his orders, and as agent he must obey 
them. We reminded him of several instances that 
must shock the heart of every feeling man, that he 
himself was knowing to the day before. Several 
©f these naked men, chilled, and benumbed with 
cold, and being half starved, fell down lifeless in 
his presence, and in presence of the guards and 
turnkeys* This was a cruelty which exceeded 
murder in any shape whatever ; to expose the na- 
ked helpless prisoner to perish in the pitiless blast 
of this bleak mountain, was an act that made our 
hearts recoil with horror. 

We remonstrated with the infamous author, 
but all our supplications and remonstrances were 
in vain ; the wretch was inexorable ; his feelings 
had become callous by continuing so long among 
the sufferings of the French prisoners. After 
these men fell down in the yard, they Ave re taken 
up and carried to the hospital, and with some dif- 
ficulty were restored to life again *, they were thcr? 



m 

immediately sent back to prison, there to lie on tht 
stone floor without bed or covering. 

At this treatment I presume the reader will not 
so much wonder that so many died, as he will that 
any could live at all. 

The name of Isaac Cotgrave, agent at Dart- 
moor, of cruel memory, will ever be engraven in 
odious characters on the mind of every American- 
who witnessed his unparalleled cruelty. 

On the 22d of this month, the iron sceptre was 
wrested from his hand, and placed beyond his 
reach. A new agent, Capt. Thos. G. Shortland, 
at this time superseded Cotgrave. Shortland was 
a man whose feelings had not yet grown callous by 
being familiarized with human misery, and at his 
nrst arrival he was shocked at the scenes of our 
misery, which presented themselves in every shape 
before him ; touched with compassion, he could not 
continue the cruel practice of counting over the 
prisoners every morning in the yard. He coun- 
termanded the order, which his predecessor pre- 
tended to have been commanded to put in force. 
He declared to us, that he would do all in his pow- 
er to procure us some relief from his government ; 
that he himself would do all he could in his situa- 
tion as agent, to assist us ; he very politely and 
kindly offered to forward to Mr. Beasley, or to the 
congress of the United States, any communication 

F2 



62 

or petition which might procure us any relief. 
He stated in feeling terms to the Board of Trans- 
port, the real condition of the American prison- 
ers. He ordered the doctors' assistants to visit the 
persons daily, and to remove to the hospital all 
the sick who had before been refused admittance. 
He granted permission for two of the prisoners to 
attend the market each day, and purchase such lit- 
tle necessary articles as they were able, such as 
soap, potatoes, tobacco, &c. 

These relaxations in the morning of his power 
seemed to promise a bright day ; but the noon 
began to grow a little obscure, and we are sorry to 
say, at last went down in blood, and left obscure 
the bright traits of the morning. 

The weather was incredibly cold upon this 
mountain ; the moor, as far as the eye could ex- 
tend, was covered with frost and snow ; the prison 
walls, by being continually damp, had become like 
solid ice, and the prisoners obliged to keep thei:* 
hammocks, for being allowed no fire, had no other 
means to keep themselves warm. 

The rigour of treatment seemed somewhat re- 
laxed ; for our friendly officers and Scotch guards 
gave us as much relief and consolation as their sta- 
tion would permit, and we endeavoured to culti- 
vate their friendship. 



63 

According to Capt. Shortland's advice, and our- 
own necessities, we again made application to Mr. 
Bcasley. In this letter we informed him that wc 
were fully of opinion that the United States would 
sanction any reasonable overtures he should make 
to prevent her citizens from starving or perishing 
for want in a foreign prison ; that his being agent 
for the United States, was sufficient power, and he 
had a right to pledge the credit of the United 
States, which was amply sufficient to procure any 
sum requisite for our relief. We farther stated, 
in the most unequivocal terms, that unless some 
relief was given us soon, that the prisoners had 
come to a unanimous and final determination to 
oiler our services en masse to the British govern- 
ment, and at the same time transmit to the Uni- 
ted States a copy of all letters from us to him, and 
set forth to congress all our reasons for so doing, 
which would most undoubtedly cast all the blame 
on him. 

This month ended with increased cold and snow 
failing daily. The prisoners did not go out of their 
hammocks, only at dinner, which was the only meal 
they had. 

Jan. 1814. The year commences with as cold 
weather as we ever experienced in the city of 
New- York ; the buckets in the prison, in the short 
space of four hours, froze ten or twelve quarts to 
a solid, and the prisoners must inevitably have fro- 



64 

sea, were not the hammocks placed so near toge- 
ther as to communicate the animal heat from one 
man to another. 

The running stream that supplied the prison 
froze solid, and the weather was allowed to be col- 
der than it had been for fifty years before. 

On the 1st the snow was two feet on the level, and 
began to snow again ; the cold somewhat abated, 
and it continued snowing the greater part of the 
time till the nineteenth ; it had now got to be four 
feet on the level, and the drifts in the yards as 
high as the prison walls, (fifteen feet) the water 
all frozen, and the prisoners obliged to eat snow 
for drink. The guards were all obliged to leave 
the walls and retire to the guard house ; no sentery 
on duty except in the barracks. 

At midnight ; this dreary night, eight prisoners 
thinking to take advantage of the night, to make 
their escape, as no senteries were in sight, formed 
a ladder, and with it ascended and descended the 
first wall directly against the guard house, and in 
ascending the second, the soldiers in the guard 
house discovered them, and apprehended seven; the 
eighth got quite over the wall, and made hie 
escape. These seven were taken to the guard 
house and there put into the black hole, which is 
the place for prisoners that attempt to make their- 
escape: the weather extremely cold, was likely to 



(55 

prove their last. But the fifth day they were re- 
moved to the cachot, and remained on two-timcls 
allowance, sleeping on straw for ten days. The 
\ iinoners, soldiers, and officers, were now furnish- 
ed witli salt provisions, which are always kept at 
the prison against any emergency of this kind. 
Every man upon the mountain was now much 
alarmed, as only ten days stock of provision was 
in reserve on the mountain, and there were now up- 
wards of nine thousand French and American 
prisoners, besides fifteen hundred soldiers and cill - 
cers, doctors, and a numerous train of turnkeys. 

The back house was at some distance, and the 
snow drifted in, from ten to fifteen feet deep ; this 
formed an impassible barrier ; but Capt. Short- 
land, at the head of two hundred French prisoners, 
all the horse of the garrison and clerks, turn- 
keys, &c. after working one whole day, shovelled 
a passage sufficient for wagons to pass. For 
should the weather continue as cold as it then was, 
all communication between that place and Ply- 
mouth, whence the provisions were brought, being 
totally stopped by the great depth of snow, they 
were in great danger of starving. On the twenty 
fifth the weather bes;an to moderate and the snow 
began to dissolve. 

The eighth man who made his escape had wan- 
dered over tke moor, through the deep snow, til! 



(>6 

hy chance he came to a single hut on the moor, 
the peasants suspected him to be a prisoner, as no 
person could travel in such tedious weather, and 
after examining him some time, he coniessed lie 
had made his escape from prison. They brought 
him back, and he received the same sentence as 
his unsuccessful companions. During his absence 
all the omcers and prisoners were much concern- 
ed at the miserable fate they were confident he must 
have shared, as it was impossible for him long to 
live, for if he survived the storm, he must starve in 
a few da}^s: but it seemed he had reached the hut 
©n the second day, without being frozen in any part. 
The officers and guards considering his attempt 
so bold and fearless of death, and showed such a 
noble longing for liberty, were really sorry to see 
him brought back, and declared that a man so 
dauntless as to dare such perils, deserved his li- 
berty, and a reward ; and had it been in their 
power he would have been released. 

Here I must beg leave, though I fear the repe- 
tition of our distress may tire the reader, to ap- 
peal to the feeling of my fellow citizens at 
this time at ease, beyond the great Atlantic : 
what would you have done, could you have seen 
your fellow citizens at Dartmoor, the coldest win- 
ter there has been for half a century, without fire, 
or light, during the night, without stockings, and 



o; 

many without shoes, and nearly naked, half starv- 
ed, buried, in snow, upon the top of an uninhabi- 
ted and uncultivated mountain, the camp distemper 
among them, and overrun with vermin; great num- 
bers dying, and death grimly threatening every 
man. 

Say, would you not have pitied and flew to their 
relief, and left the gay circle of your amusement ? 

But few entered the service of the enemy this 
month: the w T eather being so very cold, they dread- 
ed the removal to Plymouth. 

Feb. 1814. The weather was more moderate. 
3 nd snow dissolving very fast. 

We received a letter from Mr. Eeasley, for the 
first time since our confinement, which had conti- 
nued ever since April 1813. This is the first scrap 
riling any prisoner in England had ever re- 
g eived from him ; it read as follows " Fellow citi- 
zens, I am authorized by the government of the 
United States to allow you one penny half-penny 
per day, for the purpose of procuring you tobacco 
and soap, which will commence being paid from 
the first day of January, and I earnestly hope it 
will tend towards a great relief in your present 
circumstances. I likewise would advise you to 
appoint a committee, by which means you can con- 
vev to me any intelligence through the Board 
of Transport.** Immediately after the reception 



V: 



6' 

&t this letter j Vre formed a committee of six, si v.. 
besides myself who were to see that every man 
had his money, and gave a receipt to Capt. Short- 
land, who was authorized by Mr. Beasley to pay it. 
In conformity to these arrangements, we re- 
ceived, on the 5th of February, three halfpence 
oer day (less than three cents). This 
money uas to be paid every thirty-two days : as 
one month had passed from the time it was to 
commence, we received the payment for ail that 
time. The day's allowance of cash would pur- 
chase two pounds of potatoes, or three chews of 
tobacco, which latter wars live shillings and &i*3p 
pence sterling all over England. We returned to 
Mr. Beasley a letter, acknowledging the receipt 
of the money, and stated the great alteration this 
little attention had made in the prisoners ; every 
man was animated beyond description to find him- 
self again acknowledged by the United States : 
that before that time they concluded that during 
the tv, elve months they had been immured in 
prisons, so far from their country, that they were 
entirely forgotten by her, and that she did not any 
more remember she had such sons as those at 
Dartmoor. The ^loom that bad so long clouded 
their countenances now began a little to disap- 
pear, and the prospect a little brightened, and we 
hopes of life ; but still our nakedness was 



69 

grievous to bear. In a letter of thanks to our 
government through the medium of Mr. Beasley, 
we stated every particular of our situation, our 
past and our present sufferings. We stated to 
him, that it could not be possible that the Con- 
gress of the United States had allowed that small 
sum for those few articles, and had not made any 
provision for clothing, which ought to have occu- 
pied their first attention, for without clothes we 
did not need soap. We must therefore con- 
clude this sum was allowed by himself out of the 
United States' funds, and that we were extremely 
grateful for it ; that the United States, were they 
acquainted with all the particulars of our situa- 
tion, they would make immediately all requisite 
arrangements for clothing, which his honour Mr. 
Beasley must be well satisfied we were much in 
need of. After this correspondence with Mr. 
Beasley, we formed resohuxms to exp?d all gam- 
bling, and were fully confident that some greater 
arrangement would be made for us. 

Before this sime seventy-five had entered the 
British service out of nine hundred Americans at 
this depot, but now not a man mentioned such a 
thing ; he could not be persuaded to do it. This 
shows how much effect so little attention of Mr, 
Beasley had upon the prisoners. We, on the 22d 

of this month, petitioned to have the black prison- 

G 



70 

ers separated from the white, for it was impossi- 
ble to prevent these fellows from stealing, al- 
though they were seized up and flogged almost 
every day. Our petition was granted, and we 
greatly relieved, and the blacks, ninety in num- 
ber, occupied the upper stories. 

The weather greatly moderated, but vast 
quantities of rain fell. The British governc ent 
made an order to release all prisoners belonging 
to the king of Prussia, taken under the flag of the 
United States. A few da}^s after they issued a 
general order that all prisoners belonging to any 
nation with whom she was in alliance, under 
whatever flag they were taken, should be releas- 
ed. This order released many Americans who 
were acquainted with different languages, and 
could make a plausible story : the Yankees were 
citizens of all nations whose language they knew. 
At the close of this month we received letters 
from our countrymen on board the prison ships 
at Chatham, and likewise those at Stapleton, in- 
forming us that they had received the same al- 
lowance of three halfpence per day at both pla- 
ces, at the same time that we received it. They 
also sent a copy of a letter of Mr. Beasley, which 
is the same as the one already mentioned. They 
also mentioned that they bad had a very severe 
winter, but it was not as severe there as at this 



71 



place. • The prisoners at Chatham, among 
whom were great numbers, that had been released 
from the British service, during the winter, had 
received their wages and prize money ; which 
as is usual with a generous hearted sailor, they 
distributed for the e;ood of the whole. At the 
depot at Stapleton, the American prisoners were 
distributed among the French, who in many in- 
stances were very kind. 

On the last day of this month, by papers con- 
veyed to us by our friendly Scotch guards, we 
found an account of captain Porter's taking two 
large South seamen, mounting 16 guns and up 
wards of fifty men each. He says they surren- 
dered without firing a gun ; that they were taken 
by the boats of the Essex, and speaks rather 
slightly of the courage of the British on those oc- 
casions. 

In March the weather began to be mild ; the 
snow was now mostly gone ; the prisoners could 
remain in the yard the greater part of the day, 
and their spirits were much revived at the expec- 
tation of receiving their penny halfpenny per 
day in a lump ; but this was prolonged, and the 
prisoners began to despond, as they had received 
no information from Mr. Beasley since the second 
of last month ; but on the fifteenth orders were 
issued to pay it, and glad enough were we, fer 



72 

every man considered this little payment his sole 
support. 

The gates were now left open, and we had all 
the privileges of the market which were allowed 
the French ; we were allowed to go through all 
the prisons, visit the French officers, and gain 
all the information we could from London papers, 
which many of the French officers took daily. 
The French prisoners were much concerned at 
the fate of their country when they learned the 
success of the allies, as every prisoner had been 
in the army or navy of Bonaparte, and were 
much attached to the Emperor. 

Having received no letters from Mr. Beasley. 
we now gave up all hope of exchange, gave our- 
selves up to our condition, and resigned our des- 
tiny into the hands of Heaven to deal with us as 
he pleased, during the long captivity which we 
believed we had to endure ; for seeing the Eng- 
lish papers filled with accounts of the success of 
their arms in Europe, and every day declaring 
their full confidence of a complete conquest of A- 
merica, we could not expect peace, though this 
boasting did not frighten us, for we knew the 
strength and valour of the American people. 

On the 18th we established a coffee-house in 
our prison, as the French had in theirs, and sold 
coffee at a penny a pint ; but you cannot think it 



73 

very delicious when I inform you that it could not 
be bought under two and three pence per pound, 
and molasses seventy per hundred weight. At 
the same time some of the prisoners received mo- 
ney from home, and all established themselves in 
some kind of business. Some established them- 
selves as tobacconists, others as potatoe-mer- 
chants, butter merchants, and indeed almost all 
kinds of merchandise were carried on in our pri- 
son after we received our second payment : we 
had " free trade and sailors' rights." We could 
purchase any article of provision in the markets, 
coffee, sugar, molasses, any thing the country af- 
forded. The gates being now opened, we traded 
with the French. We could buy potatoes at six 
pence a score, butter at one and six pence per 
pound, bread at three pence per pound, and ae 
for meat, that was out of the question altogether. 
Every man began to use all the economy he could, 
which he perceived the French did. Some went, 
to work for the French at making straw flats, at 
which they could earn one penny per day. — 
Others were employed in making list shoes, some 
in the manufactory of hair bracelets, necklaces, &c, 
while great numbers employed themselves in 
working the bones we got out of the beef, in imita- 
tion of the French, who were very ingenious, and 
would form the most admirable and beautiful 

G2 



74 

ships, plank, mast, and rig them all of bone. The 
French, for their amusement, had regular plays in 
a theatrical form, with very elegant scenery, once 
a month. Hamlet's ghost was an easy part to act, 
for they had only to show their -natural visage, be- 
ing mere shadows themselves. They had excel- 
lent music, and appropriate comic and tragic 
dresses. They also had schools for teaching the 
arts and sciences, dancing, fencing and music, and 
each of these in great perfection. As numbers of 
them were daily receiving money from France, 
their prison was very rich. But No. 4, where the 
sons of liberty had lived so long on the vapour of a 
dungeon, when will the same be said of you ? 
Perhaps some victim as unhappy as myself, when 
some ten years have rolled away, and the human 
mind, compelled by stern necessity to invent, and 
I myself have found my quietus behind the prison 
walls, may tell a sorry story of splendid misery 
within your gloomy gates. 

During the whole month of March the weather 
was quite mild, and the prisoners gained their 
health and strength greatly. On the 2 1st we de- 
tected the contractor cheating us in our rations, 
by giving scant weight. We immediately inform- 
ed Capt. Shortland of the fraud, who examined in- 
to the fact and had the cheating stopped, but gave 



75 

the conduct of the contractor a very easy term, 
by saying it was a mistake. 

Towards the close of this month many of the 
Americans had obtained some remnants of gar- 
ments from the French, and mostly all the boys 
had got into the employ of the French officers as 
waiters. Many of these little victims of war were 
under thirteen, and there were many old men a- 
bove the age of sixty imprisoned; both these 
classes it has been considered contrary to the cus- 
tom of nations to imprison. What use could it 
be to sacrifice the aged or the child in a prison ? 

I had sailed for many years in the employment 
of merchants of England, and had ever had a most 
exalted idea of the humanity and generosity of 
that nation, but by woeful experience I found I 
had been deceived. Many of my readers may, 
perhaps, dispute the truth of what I have here 
asserted, but I appeal to thousands of my coun- 
trymen, who will testify the truth of what I have 
said, and thousands who have suffered with me 
will say,that the pen of Homer or Milton would 
fall short in describing the miseries of Dartmoor. 

Though the weather was quite mild at the end 
of the month, yet as many of the prisoners were 
almost naked, they suffered greatly for want of 
more clothing. 



76 

On the last- day of this month we received a let- 
ter from Mr. Beasley, being the second ever re- 
ceived at this Depot from him. 

I shall commence the transactions of April, by 
giving a copy of the letter which we received the 
day before. 

Fellow Citizens^ 

In addition to the allowance of three half-pence 
per day, which has heretofore been allowed, I 
shall make remittance to Captain Shortland, to 
enable you to have coffee and sugar twice a week, 
that is, the days on which your rations consist of 
fish ; my intention at first, was to have the arti- 
cles themselves sent to be distributed, but it being 
suggested to me by the committees at the other 
depots that the value in money would be more 
serviceable to the prisoners, I have determined to 
allow three pence half-penny per man, two days 
in the week, being the value of those articles, and 
I hope the committee will find means to ensure its 
being applied to the purpose intended. Yours &c. 

R. G. BEASLEY. 

With the letter was accompanied an additional 
allowance, which augmented the sum to two pence 
half penny, and we now received the sum of six 
and eight pence on the eighth. This was to con- 
tinue being paid monthly. 



77 

As it is natural to expect, this payment produ- 
ced great spirits and animation among the prison- 
ers, arid was as welcome as a thousand pounds 
when we were free and had plenty. With this 
money the prisoners purchased many little neces- 
sary articles of clothing, such as shirts, shoes, 
trowsers, &c. which could be bought very cheap 
of the French, who always kept, stores of second 
hand clothing, which were obtained from the offi- 
cers. 

The weather was fine for this place, and the pris- 
oners healthy, and having obtained some few 
clothes, and anticipating the reception of more, be- 
gan to be quite comfortable in their situation, 
when we compare it to the distress of that cold 
winter they had just passed through. 

Our little Salary ooomed to command some res- 
oect from the turnkevs. soldier-officers and sub- 
alterns, who were themselves as poor and meager 
as Hamlet's apothecary. It brought us many in- 
dulgences, such as, full liberty of the markets, 
which before had been prohibited, and we compel- 
led to purchase of the French at the gratings. 
This was' a great benefit to us, for we could now 
trade with the country people much cheaper. 

To regulate our rations, we were also allowed to 
appoint a committee of two to attend at the store 



78 



house to see that the contractor gave us weight in 
those articles allowed by the board. 

The day after we received our payment, we re- 
ceived London papers containing an official ac- 
count of the allies entering Paris, and the complete 
defeat and downfall of Bonaparte. This news was 
a sore affliction to the French prisoners, who were 
passionately attached to the Emperor, and not 
much less galling to the Americans, for now some 
boasting pettimaitres among the British officers 
would come into the yard, in the most taunting 
vile manner, to sport with the feelings of the pris- 
oners of both nations, for, said they, " we have con- 
quered France, and have not the least doubt but 
we shall shortly completely reduce the United 
States to colonies of Great Britain, and your 
haughty president become a mendicant vaga- 
bond." This insoleace was too much for flesh and 
blood to bear. They declared they could have 
peace on any terms they wished, and although we 
were yet prisoners of war, they considered us their 
subjects. 

Such language to prisoners who could not resent 
it, showed that the authors of it could be nothing 
better than the vilest caitiffs, and could flow from 
nothing but the meanest of envy. 

The French prisoners felt this conduct much 
more severe than we ; for the conquest was a!~ 



79 

really made, and they were obliged to look to & 
master whom they hated, to one who was the 
choice of their enemies, Lewis 18th. 

Many gentlemen visited the prison to congratu- 
late those unfortunate men, on their being restor- 
ed to liberty, and thought that as they had been 
many of them confined from five to eleven years; 
they would rejoice at the idea of liberty under any 
monarch. They presented the prisoners with the 
old national flag, and advised them to wear the 
white cockade, but they declared, in the presence 
of those gentlemen, that they would prefer staying 
in prison all their life time than to serve any other 
master, or become subject to any other king than 
Bonaparte, whom they loved. But the sequel will 
show how lasting their determinations were, and 
how like they were to their nation at large. 

At this time to express their regret at the misfor- 
tune of their beloved emperor, and their resent- 
ment to the proffered flag and cockade of the new 
monarch, they came forward every man, wearing 
the tri-coloured cockade, and the white ones on the 
heads of the dogs, that ran about the yard. The 
white flag they destroyed with great eagerness, in 
presence of the visitors and great numbers of Bri- 
tish officers standing on the wall. 

Shortly after this intelligence of the affairs of 
France, we had letters from Chatham, which in- 



80 

formed us, that since the last from that place there 
had arrived great numbers of prisoners there, and 
that many were almost persuaded in their own 
minds to enter the enemie's service ; that they had 
received the additional allowance at the same time 
as ourselves. On the 15th we were informed that 
there was a draft ready at Plymouth and would 
shortly be sent to this depot. 

About this time a separate arrangement was 
made for allowing the crew of the U. S. brig Argus 
half pay, to be received monthly, and at the time 
the first payment was received, they received cloth- 
ing. This was an additional benefit to our prison, 
as there were established in it a great number of 
shops for various branches of business ; this mo- 
ney circulated within ourselves, and every one de- 
rived some advantage. 

The preliminaries of peace being agreed on ai 
Paris, the French prisoners, towards the close of 
the month, began to make all preparation for leav- 
ing the prison, and once more visiting their native 
country. The idea of returning to their native 
country, their homes, and their wives, was too 
n icely interwoven with the threads of their nature, 
to be rased by that of their aversion to the Bour- 
bons. The change which was about to take place 
in their situation, had in it too many of the en- 
dearments of life to be sacrificed for the love of 
any monarch. The scenes oi their youth, the pla- 



81 

ces where they had spent so many careless, phea- 
sant days, the embraces of their friends, all rush- 
ed upon their minds at once, and they could not 
forbear the highest transports of joy. They went 
to leave all the evils that men suffer in this life, 
and to embrace all the good and blessings of it. 

We had now an opportunity of procuring all the 
tools and utensils of the mechanical arts which the 
French carried on. And during their long im- 
prisonment they had obtained almost every article 
that could be named ; all these articles we purcha* 
sed, and every man turned all his ingenuity to 
some branch or other. 

The weather being pleasant, and the prisoner? 
healthy, they bore their confinement with as much 
patience as could be expected. By permission, 
towards the close of the month they established a 
beer-house, where small beer was sold for two 
pence half penny per pot. 

On the last da) of the month a school was es- 
tablished for the instruction of the boys "in the arts 
of reading, writing and common arithmetic ; to 
maintain the school, the rate of tuition was fixed 
at six pence a month per scholar, to be paid by 
them. 

May commenced, the woather was eo^ally fine, 
but some rain. In the bustle of the c^owr 1 , weal- 
most forgot our situation ; the market square was 

H 



82 

crowded every day with people of every descrip- 
tion, some came for curiosity, others to trade, and 
among the latter were many Jews, who brought 
clothing, and many other articles, which might 
be wanted by the French for their journey. The 
French prisoners were all in confusion making rea- 
dy for their departure. The proposal was again 
made to the French prisoners to hoist the white 
Hag, and wear the ensignia of Louis 18th; but 
they rejected it, and would not listen to any argu- 
ment. Now was the time to try the strength of 
their attachment to the emperor, whom only they 
had sworn to serve, or die in prison. When the 
proposition was made to them either to hoist the 
flag and wear the ensignia, or remain in prison till 
the last draft of prisoners in England, they then 
immediately, but rather reluctantly, hoisted the 
white flag and put on the cockade. But it was a 
grievous sight to them, and they could not look at 
it but with the bitterest reflection, and the most 
poignant regret, for they had for years endured 
all the calamities and hardships of danger and 
war, for the support of their beloved emperor, who 
now must give place to those they hat< 

On the 10th a draft of Americans from Plymouth. 

about 170, in groat distress, arrived at this depot; 

mg whom were the seventeen that were taken 

and put into close confinement by the information 



83 

of Robertson. They had been tried for high treason 
by a court of judicature ; but there not being suf- 
ficient evidence on the part of the crown to sup- 
port the charge, they were acquitted, and sent to 
this prison, to be dealt b\ isoners of war on- 

ly. In the same draft were a nufnber of prison- 
ers who had been released from British ships of 
war. 

On the 15th, we received oar monthly pay ; this 
c very appropos, to enable us to buy all the 
furniture used by the French at a very low price. 
On the same day Mr. Williams, clerk to Mr. Beas 
J j and a Jew merchant of London, Mr. Jacobs, 
brought and delivered to each prisoner a jacket, 
pair of trowsers, a pair of .shoes, and a shirt. The 
jacket and trowsers were of very coarse blue 
cloth, much coarser than that of the English ; but 
it was such a dress as we had been used to wear- 
ing. Mr. Williams then told us that we were to 
be clothed altogether by the U. States, and these 
we had now received were to last us eighteen 
months. These were the first we had ever receiv- 
ed from the agent, and it is impossible to describe 
the great change and life it gave the prisoners : 
they all cleaned themselves, and every thing about 
them, and laid by their yellow rags. 

They began to attract the attention of all about 
them ; the British officers would now visit them, 



84 

and were not afraid of being covered with ver- 
min as before ; our appearance was not loathsome 
to one another ; we were in great spirits now, and 
to prevent some thoughtless men from selling their 
clothing to the French to wear home, we passed 
an act, that every man should appear in his dress 
which he had received from the I'nited States, to 
receive his monthly payment, or not receive it at 
all. 

We now felt a spirit of independence, which had 
before been smothered in the wretchedness of our 
situation •, we could now converse with ease, and 
without that restraint, which a mean and dirty 
habit will ever give a man in presence of those in 
a clean and genteel one ; that old, dirty, tawny 
dress depressed us with a sense of inferiority : 
but now we could vindicate our country's rights, 
in argument with any visitor ; we came out boldly, 
and demanded restitution lor any injury or fraud 
that heretofore had been practised upon us ; every 
man began to see to it, how he should gain some - 
thing more, now he was furnished with utensils, 
and set himself about something. 

On the twentieth, orders arrived for the first 
draft of French, and the day after, live hundred 
were taken out and marched to Plymouth, where 
the) took shipping and went to France. 

\ ■ i \ singular kind of conduct now showed iU 



85 

self m the British government. Twenty-four 
Americans, citizens of the United States, who had 
been taken under the flag of France, about two 
years before the war between the United States 
and Great Britain, were now among the French 
prisoners at this place. They had often applied 
to the government to be released, as citizens of 
the United States before the war. They also, as- 
serting their citizenship, had applied after the war, 
to be enrolled on the list of United States priso- 
ners, but had been refused both their application?. 
They now expected to be released with the French 
prisoners, on account of their always being con- 
sidered" by government as French prisoners 5 but. 
the government would not release them as such, but 
detained them in prison. They now, seeing they 
could not have the privilege, of French prisoners, 
applied to Mr. Beasley, and claimed their citizen- 
ship in the United States : but received for answer 
from him, " that he could not receive them as 
such r r ] 

These men were citizens of the world sure 

enough, for they belonged to no nation in it ; they 

-tore remained unprovided for by either gov- 

v-v( we could not see them perish, as 

re had any thing which could be divided ; 

tore lived upon our charity the whole 



H2 



86 

On the twenty-fifth, another draft took place a 3 
before, and released one thousand. At this time, 
all the Swedish subjects, taken under the flag of 
the United States, were released and permitted to 
go home. 

The French, who had been employed in diffe- 
rent occupations, being now released, we applied 
to government to be allowed that privilege, each 
man employed at these different occupations, such 
as carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, nurses in the 
hospital, &c. ; and two hundred labourers were 
paid six pence a day. In answer to this applica- 
tion, we were told, that after the discharge of all 
ihe French prisoners we should have them allowed 
us. 

When the French prisoners passed out, they 
were all called over by name, and great numbers- 
being dead, which was not known to the keepers? 
afforded a fine opportunity for the Americans to 
answer, and pass out in the name of the deceased. 
Great numbers, who could speak French, obtained 
their release in this manner. 

At the end of the month, another draft of one 
thousand took place, among whom, twenty Ameri- 
cans passed out in the same manner as before, the 
deception not being as yet discovered. 

At the same time, we received information by 
letters, from Chatham andStapleton, that Mr. Wib 



a? 

liams, and the Jew merchant had visited them, and 
supplied them in the manner as ourselves, and 
also, that the French prisoners at those places 
* were released daily. Few died this month, the 
weather generally pleasant, but much rain. 

Before I leave the events of this month, T can- 
not forbear mentioning one very melancholy and 
| striking instance of the force of disappointment 
and despair ; where hope has painted glowing 
scenes of pleasure ; the heart sickens and the 
mind grows frantick. 

On the discharge of the prisoners, every man 
before he can be discharged, must return the same 
complement of bedding which he had received two 
I years before ; he must have the same number of 
! articles, let them be in ever so worn-out state ; if 
he do this he can then pass, if not, he cannot pass, 
It happened, that one unfortunate man, called 
r for in the last draft, did not bring forward the ar- 
4 tides of bedding : he was refused a pass, and or- 
dered back to produce them ; he ran about in great 
confusion and the most terrible anxiety to procure 
them, but could not find them ; he returned again 
to pass out, but was refused ; he had been immur- 
ed and buried within the cold, gloomy walls of this 
I prison, eleven tedious and painful years, he said : 
•• he ran and looked, and looked again — he could not 
procure them, and he was refused to pass ; — them 



88 

in the agonies of despair, he seized a knife and v 
an end to his sufferings, by cutting his own 
throat, in presence of his countrymen and the 
keepers ! 

The spectacle was too horrible behold with- 
out the deepest regret and sorrow vasasight, 
that all-powerful Juno might have lown Iris 

from heaven, to relieve his struggling from r 

united limbs. Many, through despair, had com- 
mitted suicide before in the French prist 

June. The weather continued much the same. 
On the fifth, another draft of French prisoners 
was made. At this time, an order was issued, to 
discharge from confinement all French prisoners 
who had been taken under the flag of the United 
States. The Americans, who were ever watchful 
for an opportunity to make their c. . :ook ad- 

vantage of this order to obtain their liberty; many 
came forward and claimed th fight m 

France and its dependencies; being well vers 
in the French language, they bore a good exami- 
nation, and one hundred and twenty-one were re- 
leased in the last draft of French subjects. 

By this time % all the French from No. 4 were 
rek id the whole prison to ourseh es : 

but the blacks being mixed with us were very 
troublesome. 



89 

We having purchased from the French all they 
had, were now well furnished with household fur* 
4 niture, such as tables, dishes, seats, and things to 
, cook in. We now carried on the business of ma- 
king straw flats for hats and bonnets, although not 
allowed by government ; by strict attention, we 
could make at this business three pence a day. 

On the fifteenth, we received our monthly pay, 
which never failed to come about that time. 

On the twentieth, the whole of the French priso- 
ners were discharged except a few sick in the 
Hospital. 

On the 22d, Capt. Shortland gave us informa- 
' tion that all the prisoners in England were to be 
> collected at Stapleton, as the Transport Board 
determined on that place for a general depot for 
all American prisoners. There were now in Eng- 
land, three thousand five hundred unparoled priso- 
ners. The same information was given at Chat- 
ham and Plymouth. 

We anticipated much advantage in the change 
of situation, and began to prepare for the removal, 
and from the authentick account we had received 
from that place, there had not died but one-fiftieth 
as many in proportion to their number, as had 
died at this depot ; the change was therefore 
much to be desired ; the climate was much more 
pleasant and healthy, and the contiguity to th§ 



90 

city of Bristol, where every article manufactured 
by the prisoners, would find a ready market at a 
much higher price than at this place ; all articles 
of provision much cheaper. But much to our dis- 
appointment, on the twenty-fourth, the late order 
was countermanded, and Capt. Shortland ordered 
to make ail things ready for the reception of all 
the prisoners in England, as the board had deter- 
mined on making this depot the general recepta- 
cle for all prisoners in England, as they consider- 
ed it the safest of any in the kingdom, and they 
might have added, far more infernal than the bas- 
tile. He also told the prisoners that he had or- 
ders to employ any number of the prisoners he 
should think necessary ; such as carpenters and 
masons to build a church near the prison, and a 
^number of labourers to repair the roads ; also 
blacksmiths, coopers, painters, lamp-lighters, and 
nurses in the hospital, &c. The number he said 
would amount to upwards of one hundred. He 
then told us under what restrictions we were to 
Hvork ; we were to be under the eye of a guard 
all the time, and if any prisoner attempted to 
make his escape, that no more Americans would 

i mployed, ana! to prevent this, the following 
pule adopted : they wt re to receive their 

. . at the rate of six-penc* rj , i yery three 

months, and if any i ped, the whole 



91 

pay was forfeited ; this kept every prisoner watch- 
ful over each other, for when one ran away, all 
the others lost their whole pay and employment, 
besides, this was the method they had used with 
the French. 

We found this to be a great benefit to us, for 
these workmen who went out of the prison yards, 
! smuggled in all kinds of prohibited articles, such 
as rum, candles, oil, and news-papers ; and smug- 
gled out all the prohibited articles, manufactured 
in the prison. At this trade, each man could 
make four or five shillings a day. 

There were how eleven hundred prisoners, and 
manufactures having got to considerable perfec- 
tion, the receipts of money brought into the prison 
each week besides the allowances, were fifty 
pounds sterling. Besides this sum of money, many 
prisoners had friends in England, and received 
from them considerable sums. 

The prisoners now began to live, and got into 
good spirits. The latter part of this month 150 
workmen were employed at different branches of 
mechanical business. At this time prisoners from 
Stapleton arrived at this depot ; their number at 
first was 400, but was now reduced to 350. Sev- 
enteen had enlisted into the British service, eight 
died,and the remainder made their escape. On their 
arrival here, they were committed to No. 4, which 



92 

contained upwards of 1400, and was much crowd- 
ed. These 350 were in a very bad condition, 
many were without shoes, and had travelled most 
of the distance in the same condition, for the shoes 
they had received from the agent did not last 
more than three or four weeks. This was an im- 
position of the contractor, as the agent afterwards 
said he had learned. 

On the twentieth of June we were informed by 
Capt. Shortland, that when the other prisoners ar- 
rived from Chatham, he would open the yards on 
the south side of the enclosure, and give us all 
the privileges of the other prisons. These yards be- 
ing large, would admit of many amusements which 
that of No. 4 would not, such as playing ball, occ. 

At this time, viewing our circumstances on all 
sides, and seeing no hope of exchange or peace, 
we formed a design to make our escape ; our plan 
was, that immediately after our removal to the 
other prisons, to dig a hole two hundred and eighty 
feet long, all the way under ground ; this would 
reach from the prison beyond the outer wall. The 
success of this design will be mentioned hereafter. 
On the same day we received London papers, con- 
taining an account of the capture of the United 
States frigate K>*ex, by the frigate Phebe. and 
sloop of war Cherub. The London editor said 
'.ha? '!•< Ess< \ wras equal in size to a >evcnty-four. 



93 

Had he said her defence was equal to a seventy- 
four, Capt. Hilliar would have agreed with him. 
The garrison was again renewed with a new regi- 
ment, and the old one removed. This regiment 
was very much embittered against the govern- 
ment ; their term of five years, for which they had 
enlisted, having expired, the government refused 
to discharge them. 

At this time the government was giving great 
encouragement to soldiers to enlist to fight against 
the United States ; this regiment was offered every 
inducement to join ; they therefore made ittheirbu- 
siness to make particular inquiry of the prisoncrs r 
what was the manner of our warfare, and the dis- 
positions of the American soldiers. I found they 
were very ignorant in these things, and easily de- 
terred from their enlisting. I composed a song 
and distributed it among them, after which not a 
man ever enlisted, or offered to. This very much 
enraged the soldier-officers of the garrison, who 
issued orders, that if any sentery was found con- 
versing with a prisoner, he should be punished ; 
but it was impossible to stop it, the soldiers were 
equally desirous as the prisoners to converse. 

The fourth of July was not far distant, and we 
began to make preparations to celebrate the day 
a second time since our confinement. We obtain- 
ed permission from the keeper, to purchase two 

I 



94 

hogsheads of porter ; we likewise had got a num- 
ber of gallons of rum, unbeknown to the keeper. 

We also provided ourselves with American co- 
lours, and invited all the soldier-officers, clerks of 
the prison, and soldiers, to attend and hear an ora- 
tion that would be delivered on the fourth, which 
was the anniversary of American independence. 
The prisoners were in high spirits, expecting to 
enjoy themselves much better than they had done 
©n the preceding one, when they were half naked. 
In the month of June we had but few deaths, 
and the prisoners generally healthy ; we had rain, 
and many showers. 

On the first of July, we received letters from 
■Chatham, informing us. that they were much con- 
cerned at a late order, which was shortly to re- 
move them to this depot ; the same letter informed 
us that the prisoners on board the Crowned Prince 
had been confined three days without victuals or 
drink ; the reason why is yet untold. 

On the second of the month the crew of the Ar- 
*us received another payment of several pounds 
each man, through the hands of the late purser to 
that vessel ; this came very timely to us, in the ce- 
lebration of the American independence. 

By letters from Plymouth this day, we were in- 
formed the reason of the prisoners being confined 
below deck, on board the Crowned Prince. 






95 

It happened that the boats' crew of that ship had 
been on shore and stole a sheep from a farmer, 
and the commander had had his table served with 
the best pieces ; the farmer getting information 
where the sheep had gone, came and demanded 
reparation for his sheep; the commander, to screen 
the boats' crew, paid the farmer the price of the 
sheep. 

The story of the sheep was soon known to the 
prisoners, who having a dislike to the commander, 
one morning, as he was going on shore with his 
wife, and at the moment he was entering the boat, 
they all as one agreed to cry blar ; he understood 
the meaning the very instant the sound struck his 
ear, and turning back, he ordered the prisoners all 
below, and to be kept there three days without 
victuals or drink. 

On the evening of the third, an event happened 
at Dartmooi, which ended in a very serious man- 
ner. A dispute arose between towo of the prison- 
ers late belonging to the United States' brig Ar- 
gus, by the names of Thomas Hill and James 
Henry ; the quarrel growing quite warm, and not 
being ended that night, they agreed to fight next 
morning ; accordingly, next morning, about nine 
o'clock, they commenced the battle in prison No. 4, 
and by an unfortunate blow from Hill, Henry was 
killed on the spot ; a jury of inquest was called 



96 

next morning and held over the body of the de- 
ceased, and after hearing the evidence, the jury 
brought in a verdict of manslaughter, or (a killing 
not wholly without fault, but without malice.) 
Thomas Hill was removed and confined in the 
county prison at Exeter, there to await his trial at 
the August assizes then next ensuing. 

The fourth of July now having arrived, and all 
things in great preparation, we displayed our flag 
in the yard, with the following inscription upon it 
in large capitals, " All Canada or Dartmoor prison 
for life." This pleased the soldiers, but irritated 
the officers, who discovering our firm resolution to 
defend the flag, and not having but part of a regi- 
ment in the garrison, and they friendly toward 
us, thought best to be quite silent and let us pro- 
ceed our own way ; for if they attempted to de- 

. e us of the flag, we might rush on the guard, 
who would make but a faint resistance, or join us, 
and all the prisoners might make an easy escape. 
But the prisoners did not wish to make the at- 
tempt, for they knew a reinforcement could easily 
be raised, and make a vigorous pursuit, and were 
therefore willing to wait some more favourable 
opportunity. At eleven o'clock all the prisoners 

mbled in the yard. The British officers be- 
longing to the garrison, colonels, mojors, captains, 
clerks, turnkeys, and a gr number of soldi 



97 

assembled on the walls to hear an oration com 
posed by a Yankee sailor, upon the circumstances 
of the present times. An empty cask was placed 
in such a situation, as all the strangers on the 
walls could hear distinctly. 

The orator of the day then mounted the cask, 
and all the spectators keeping a profound silence, 
began his oration, which we shall give our readers 
verbatim, as it was delivered by the sailor. 
Countrymen and Fellow Citizens , 
This day we dedicate as the birth day of free- 
dom, it being the fourth of July, the day that our 
fathers declared themselves free and independent 
from the tyrannical laws of this country. After 
many years hard struggle, and the loss of many of 
our fathers and friends, America was acknowledg- 
ed by all civilized nations, a free and independent 
government. 

For many years our fathers, and we their off- 
spring, remained in the most perfect state of 
peace and tranquillity, and reaped every blessing 
that grows on the soil of liberty ; England, ever 
envying us the honour our fathers acquired by their 
valour in arms, when they declared that them- 
selves and their sons should no longer wear the 
yoke of tyranny. Since that time, England has 
used every intrigue to deprive us of the greatest 
of blessings. First, contrary to the laws of ci- 

12 



98 

vilized nations, she has dragged you from your 
homes, from your wives, your families and friends, 
into her infernal bulwarks, her ships of war ; 
there, after suffering every degradation, from the 
terror of the lash, she has sent you to the most 
horrid prison, in compensation for your long 
and faithful services. England, envying the hap- 
piness our countrymen enjoyed under so mild a 
government, the reverse of her own tyrannical 
laws, exerted every art to destroy their tranquilli- 
ty, by offering insults to the U. States ships at va- 
rious times, impressing and murdering our bro- 
ther seamen, within the jurisdiction of our own wa- 
ters and within sight of our capital. Our country 
- passive, and wishing to remain at peace with 
all nations, bore these insults with a fortitude 
becoming a great and wise people, and was in 
nope that at some future day, England would re- 
dress those injuries in a fair and honourable way. 
But contrary to every expectation, for years be- 
fore the war, she grew more bold, and showed a 
disposition to add injury to insult, by issuing or- 
ders to make prizes of all American vessels not 
bound to her own ports, or those of her allies. 

All nations stood amazed to see our country in- 
sulted, our seamen impressed and murdered with- 
in our own waters ; our commerce confined and 
completely destroyed, contrary to the laws of neu> 



99 

trali ty. All this was done by England, and sh< 
unprovoked. Then, fellow citizens, the result ot 
all these depredations, must be a formal declara- 
tion of war, which could no longer be delayed. — 
Our country then, prudently and wisely, mustered 
all their forces both by sea and land ; England 
stood ready for combat fully prepared, and with 
the fullest assurance of a speedy victory ; but a- 
las ! for England ; within a few weeks after the de- 
claration of war, the United States frigate Consti- 
tution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, fell in 
with His Majesty's ship Gucrriere, and then retali- 
ated for one insult, by sending her to the bottom. 
Great was the astonishment of England. 

Shortly after, the U. S. ship Wasp, fell in with 
His Majesty's ship Frolic, of far superior force, 
and after a second retaliation, she acknowledged 
her country's wrongs, by striking her colours to 

the gallant Jones. 

The officers and seamen of our infant navy, 

now felt the ardour of our forefathers. 

Decatur, in the frigate United States, fell in 

with a vessel of equal force, the Macedonian, the 

pride of the British navy ; and after displaying 

the courage of injured Americans, he took and 

brought her into port. 

The Constitution shortly after took her station 

along-side of the Java, a frigate completely fitted 



100 

and manned with a superior number of seamen; 
and again did the God of battle decide in favour 
of the injured Americans, and sent the Java to 
the bottom. The tidings had scarcely reached 
the American shore, when another laurel was ad- 
ded to our infant navy; the United States ship Hor- 
net engaged His Majesty's ship Peacock, of equal 
force ; and Capt. Lawrence, unwilling to make 
any distinction between her and the Java, sent 
her to the bottom too. 

This intelligence had scarcely reached the 
shores of liberty, when victories were proclaimed 
from all directions. 

The British, feeling their pride wounded by the 
great exploits of our undaunted seamen, fitted out 
the Boxer, with the fullest assurance of recover- 
ing her lost honour, and were confident of taking 
our brig Enterprise,of much inferior force. But Di- 
vine Providence, ever extending the hand of assist- 
ance to the injured, decided the contest in favour 
of our insulted country ; and the Boxer was cap- 
tured and brought safe into port, in the United 
State's. 

Our next laurel was reaped on Lake Erie, by 
Commodore Perry. He bravely captured all the 
naval force on that lake, to the amazement of all 
surrounding nations, and the disgrace of the 
British Hag, 



iOl 

Commodore Chaunccy, at the same time, had a 
complete ascendency over the whole British force 
on Lake Ontario ; while Commodore Rodgers is 
traversing the ocean in every direction, and des- 
troying British property to an immense value. — 
The United States sh^p Essex is complete master 
of all the South Seas, in defiance of all the boast- 
ed superiority of the British. The United Sates 
ship Congress is cruising on the coast of Brazil, 
and completely intercepting the trade of Great 
Britain to all Spanish South America, and defy- 
ing any thing of equal size. 

And now, fellow citizens, this country, what has 
she done ? She has long boasted of her honour 
and her bravery ; and she has issued orders to 
her frigates, never to engage an American frigate, 
unless under cover of a ship of the line. She has 
likewise endeavoured to rouse the anger of the 
savage tribes in the wilderness of Canada, to mur- 
der and scalp your brethren in arms, in that coun- 
try. But divine Providence, still assisting your 
injured country, turned the ferocity of the sava- 
ges against those who moved them to anger, and 
their vengeance recoiled on the hand that attempt- 
ed to use it. And you, fellow citizens, although 
prisoners of war, feel the benefit of belonging to 
so great and wise a nation. Have the United 
States not assisted us in our unhappy situation, 



102 

and much meliorated our sufferings, though iliy 
able, while carrying on so expensive a war ? 

And now, fellow citizens, I conjure you to be'pa- 
tient, and consider your country to be using her 
utmost endeavour to bring about an honourable 
and speedy peace. In a state of war, many sto- 
ries are circulated in this country, favourable to 
her success in arms, which have no foundation : 
and this is done to encourage and inspire the sol- 
diery to enlist in her wars ; and perhaps, fellow 
citizens, many of you may honestly believe the re- 
ports, but let them not make you despair of your 
country. No, depend upon it, she cannot be con- 
quered. England may get momentary possession 
of one small city, or perhaps ten, but America is 
not conquered till every man is either taken pri- 
soner or killed. 

The success of our naval arms is a sufficient 
proof, and our country is now in triumph at her 
great naval success. Have we not this moment, 
as it were, heard of another brilliant achievement 
upon the ocean ? The United States ship Pea- 
cock, on her first cruise after she left the stocks, 
captured and brought into port, His Majesty's ship 
L'Epervier, of equal size, with Immense sums of 
silver and much treasure on board ? 

From the success of Ame pas, whichhaye 

alreadj astonished our i oesnies, we have nothing 
to fear; and we have the great ison to 



103 

lieve that the American cause is big with the most 
wonderful achievements ; that the exploits of our 
countrymen in arms, in the present contest, will 
astonish all nations, and be recorded on the pages 
of history, and remain in the choicest archieves of 
posterity, with equal glory to those of Marathon 
and Thermopylae. 

Fellow prisoners, let us then be resigned to our 
present unhappy condition ; and through the great 
exertion of our country, and the assistance of Di- 
vine Providence, who disposes of events and go- 
verns futurity, wc may hope once more to revisit 
our native country in an honourable peace, and 
live happy and free. 

After the oration was delivered, the officers that 
. ere on the walls, entered the prison yard, and 
expressed the greatest surprise that we should en- 
icrtain a hope that the United States would be 
successful in a war with Great Britain, when she 
was at peace with all other nations. But for con- 
solation to us in our present condition, we might 
rest fully assured that we should be released in a 
very short time by a peace, which would be 
brought about by their conquering the United 
States, and reducing them to colonies again ; and 
such a change, which must shortly take place, 
they said must be imputed entirely to the bad man- 
agement of our President and Congress : we have 



104 

now conouerecl France, and America must be con- 
quered next. We found them ignorant of the 
pjfrength and resources of the American people ; 
we gave them a particular account of the situation 
of America, her means of defence, and the spirit 
and determination of the people ; the great supe- 
riority of gunnery, which the American seamen 
possessed over those of Great Britain ; the truth 
of which was shown in the actions of the Guer- 
riere, Frolic, Java, &c. &c. 

They left the yard much chagrined at these 
facts, which they could not deny ; and remarking 
that they were surprised to find sailors\so well ac- 
quainted with the politics of both countries, but 
that they believed they must be most of them 
Englishmen born, and that it was a very great 
pity His Majesty should be deprived of so many 
valuable seamen. 

At two ox lock we sat down to our fourth oi 
July dinner, which was composed of soup and 
beef, the best we could prepare. W e gathered in 
pari - with the greatest animation, conversing ol 
our President and Congress, foi whom we sailors 
have the greatest respect; and Mr. Madison, pai^ 
ticularly, is a L,reat favourite of sa lors, Aitei 
dinner we had a song, which was composed lor 
the occasion. 



165 

The day was passed in the greatest harmony ? 
no quarrel or strife occurred to mar its pleasure. 
The next day, every man resumed his occupation 
and seemed to enjoy a negative happiness, which 
arose from a freedom from absolute pain. 

On the eighth of this month a friend of mine, 
for whom I had much respect, died, and at J^sJ-m- 
fial I took occasion to survey the vast tenements 
of the dead, and consider within myself what 
innumerable multitudes of people lay confused to- 
gether on this moor ; how friends and enemies, 
officers and soldiers, the brave and the coward, 
collected from all quarters of the globe, of all na- 
tions, and of all colours, lay undistinguished in 
one common mass of matter ; and not a stone to 
name one tenant of the tomb. 

After having surveyed this great magazine of 
mortality as it were, in the lump, out of respect 
to my friend, I searched about and obtained a very 
slaty stone, on which I inscribed the following 
words : 

Here lies the body of 

JAMES HART, 

a native of the United States of 

America, 

who departed this life July 8th, 1814c 
K 



106 

Under which was the following epitaph. 

Your country mourns your hapless fate , 
So mourn we prisoners all ; 
You've paid the debt we all must pay, 
Each sailor great and small. 

Your body on this barren moor, 
Your soul in Heaven doth rest, 
Where Yankee sadors, one and all. 
Hereafter will be blest. 

The agent permitted us to put this stone up. 
\i\d of the many thousands that lay indiscrimi- 
nately mingled together upon this moor, this 
stone recorded the only syllable of the dead bu- 
ried here. The life of these men is finely descri- 
bed in Holy Writ by the path of an arrow, which 
3 immediately closed up and lost. 

We received our monthly pay as usual, and no- 
thing remarkable occurred during the remainder 
©f the month ; few persons arrived, but we had 
expectation of a great number. The weather was 
■liny and cold; the prisoners generally healthy; 
few died, but the prison was very much crowded, 
'here being 1500 in No. 4. 

U the commencement of August, a draft of 
prisoners arrived, who had been recently captured 



107 

on the coast of Europe, among whom were fouv 
men lately belonging to the private armed schoon- 
er Surprise of Baltimore ; these four men on their 
first arrival at this depot, were put into close con- 
finement in the cachet, there to remain on two- 
thirds allowance, without hammock or bed, sleep- 
ing on the stone floor, during their whole impris- 
onment. When the cause of their confinement 
was known, it seems it had grown out of the follow- 
ing circumstances. 

The Surprise was cruising in the channel of 
England, and fell in with, and captured a schoon- 
er, and put on board her these four men, to take 
charge of the prize. 

Shortly after, the prize was re-captured by an 
English frigate, and after taking possession of her, 
found stowed away in the round house, (which is 
a lew feet above the deck,) a cask of powder, 
which contained but a few pounds at most, and 
on examination they found part of a match and a 
candle ; the captain of the frigate being suspicious 
of these four men's having an intention to blow 
the vessel up, took them and committed them to 
close confinement until he arrived in England ; he 
then reported them to the Board of Transport and 
delivered them into their custody, and they, from 
these suspicious circumstances, sentenced them 
to the punishment above mentioned. Whether 




10b' 

the crime, had it been well proved, would war- 
rant so rigorous a punishment, is not the subject 
of investigation ; they had the power to treat them 
as they pleased, nor had the sufferers any redress, 
for, inter armis lages silent, " the laws are silent 
amid arms." 

On the arrival of these prisoners, Capt. Short- 
land opened the south yard of the enclosure, and 
gave all the officers liberty to go into No. 6 ; a 
few days after, a habeas corpus ad testificandum 
was awarded to bring forward six prisoners, to 
appear and give evidence in the cause of Thomas 
Hill, then depending at the next Exeter assizes, 
who was charged with man-slaughter for killing 
James Henry on the third of July. The termi- 
nation of the trial, I shall give in a subsequent 
page. 

The prisoners having no expectation or hope of 
exchange, or a peace, now set about contriving a 
method of escape, something of which we hinted 
at in a preceding page. The plan was to dig out 
of prison No. 6. The plan was made known to 
the prisoners in No. 4, who were expecting to be 
removed into No. G, in a few days, when they 
would have access to No. 5, G, and 7, which were 
contained in one yard. To have the plan circu- 
lated with the greatest secrecy, that would ob- 
tain the opinion of all the prisoners, without the 



109 

.^u^picion of the guards, or officers ; it was though; 
best to have it done in poetry, and accordingly it 
was done in that manner. This attracted the at- 
tention of the prisoners, and we soon found the 
intention of each man to favour the plan. 

On the fifteenth qf August, the six men whom 
we mentioned in the preceding page, were taken 
to Exeter, returned, and with them Thomas Hill, 
who was acquitted by the jury, and he remanded 
to Dartmoor as a prisoner of war. 

The same day arrived a large draft of prisoners 
who had been sent from Halifax prison on board 
the Transport ship Bensen. These persons on 
their passage attempted to rise and take the ship, 
m which attempt a sharp contest ensued, and the 
struggle was for some time doubtful, but the Amer- 
ican prisoners were overpowered and afterwards 
treated with the greatest severity and cruelty. 
In the engagement several on both sides were 
severely wounded, but none killed, or mortally 
wounded. Some of the prisoners were taken out 
and put on board the ship Commodore, and the re- 
mainder confined in the coal-hole, and kept on 
bread and water for several days. 

These prisoners were put into No. 6, which 
now made about eight hundred in that prison and 
about twelve hundred in No. 4, who were not yet 
removed. 



110 



We finding our number increasing daily and no 
-prospect of peace or exchange, now determined to 
put in execution our projected plan of escape; ev- 
ery prisoner being willing, and not a dissenting 
voice among the whole, we mustered a number of 
bibles in each prison, and began to solemnly 
swear every man to keep secret every transaction 
he should see or know of concerning the operation 
then about to be begun ; when a man was sworn, 
he was strictly cautioned and charged not to make 
known by word or sign, in any way whatever, anv 
thing which might lead to a discovery of their dt 
sign, on pain of immediate death in a private an 
secret manner, which would most assuredly tak 
place without the knowledge of the keepers. 

After they were all sworn, and the fixed deter 
urination of hanging the first informer, a num 
ber of confidential persons were appointed a 
spies, to watch the conduct of others. We als< 
appointed other trusty men to watch the move 
ments of the turnkeys, and senteries ; and see tha 
the prisoners held no conversation with either o 
them. We then divided ourselves into parties 
to work, and who were alternately to dig, and re- 
lieve each other. 

After taking a correct survey of the ground^ 
measuring and making it out, and taking the 

K2 



Ill 

v'uurse, on the twentieth we made a beginning 
in both prisons, and dug directly down. In this 
perpendicular direction, we must sink our work 
twenty feet, which would come on a horizontal 
plane with the road. On this horizontal plane we 
mast then pursue the work, in an eastern direction 
two hundred and rifty feet, which distance would 
carry us beyond the outer wall and under all the 
■ foundations which extended below the surface of 
1 earth, about six feet ; if this work were per- 
. n ed we should then have a passage into the 
d. The digging could be carried on with very 
le difficulty ; but the great obstacle before us, 
s to convey away the dirt, and this on a liitie 
isideration seemed to vanish, when we consid- 
;d the stream of water in the yard which passed 
• ifi the prison at the rate of four miles an hour ; 
o this stream we thiew great quantities of fine 
t, which passed off. We, as another means to 
clear of the dirt, obtained permission to bring 
o the prison a large quantity of lime, under the 
Hence of white-washing the walls of the prison. 
These walls were made of large rough stone 
d every night we made of the dirt a sort of mor- 
-, and plastered on the walls, and then white- 
ished it over. 

No 5 prison containing no prisoners, and not be- 
g visited by the keepers, we thought best to be- 



112 

gin a similar operation in that prison, as we conid 

: i unknowH 10 the keepers; — 

I Jigging in the day-time, and 

found a holi ice under the prison to stow the 

dirt away. 

In thove three different places we made our at- 
. ■. and Very rightly supposing, that if one 
should be discovered, that we should still have an- 
other, which we could proceed in without suspi- 
cion ; we were apprehensive, that the run of wa- 
ter, which passed through an iron grating at the 
outlet, might get stopped with the dirt, and lead 
to a discovery. We hastened en the work, every 
man as busy as a bee, and flushed with the hope 
and full belief that we should shortly make our 
escape. 

At the close of the month, we had dug toward 
the wall in a horizontal direction forty feet, without 
the least suspicion. As we entered so far under 
ground, we found a want of fresh air, and to re- 
medy this, we contrived a lamp to keep burning in 
the hole, that would expel all the azotic gas, or 
dead air, and bring in a constant supply of fresh. 

1 must digress for a moment, to give an account 
of some events which took place during this ope- 
ration. 

In the mean while a number of prisoners arri- 
ved, some from Chatham, some from the IV est In- 



113 

dies, and from other places. These, as soon as 
they arrived, were made acquainted with our de- 
sign an i operations, and sworn and charged as tne 
©thers had been. Among these prisoners was the 
crew of the United States brig Frolic. These 
prisoners were destitute of clothing, and in a very 
bad state of health, which was occasioned by be- 
ing so very closely confined during the passage, 
and their allowance so very short. During the 
month we had great quantities of rain, which was 
very favourable to our operations. The prisoners 
were now more healthy than they had been before 
since our confinement. Those who had been sick fop 
some time, died. Those who had been here a long 
time, had become used to the hardships, but new 
comers were sickly. 

On the last day of August, our subterraneous 
passage was sixty feet from No. 5, and about the 
same from No. 6, and No. 4 nearly equal. The 
dirt being very loose, and but few stones to ob- 
struct our way, our passage seemed short, and 
promised success. 

September having commenced, and no suspicion 
or discovery as yet made, although the prisons 
were searched every day by the keepers ; but the 
holes being very small, and so nicely closed every 
day, that it would require the minutest search t£ 



114 

discover the place ; but the hole was larger under 
ground, and would admit four men to work abreast. 

But, to our great mortification, on the second. 
Capt. Shortland entered the prison with the guards, 
and, went directly towards the hole, and as he pass- 
ed, he informed us that he knew of our operations 
in No. 5, but his informer had not told him cor- 
rectly, for after a long search, they could not dis- 
cover the hole. 

It was then suggested by his attendants to sound 
the prison : they then began with crow-bars to 
sound, and after having made the minutest exami- 
nation, by accident found the entrance, to the great 
mortification of every man. 

They undertook to enter the hole, but after en- 
tering a few feet, their lights went out, and they 
could not keep them burning ; and being unac- 
quainted with the materials, and method used by 
us to light the hole and expel the dead air, could 
not penetrate to the extent, nor did they ever 
enter near all the distance. 

They were no less astonished to conceive what 
had become of the dirt taken from the passage, and 
it ever remained a great mystery to them. 

Every man was strictly cautioned, should any 
discovery lake place, not to give any account what- 
BVi rof the means they had made use of to light 



115 

the holp. or how thpy had disposed of the dirt ; and 
when thcj, v. tie strictly examined by the officers^ 
they gave no other answer, than that each man 
eat ins proportion, to make up his scant allowance. 

To prevent any further operation o ; this ki -.d # 
Capt. Shortland had every prisoner removed from 
the yard, which encloses No; 5, 6, and 7, into die 
enclosure on the north side, which contained 
No. 1, 2, and 3 ; but having no suspicions of any 
attempts to escape in No. 4, they let the prisoners 
there remain. 

After the prisoners were removed from the other 
two prisons, they rilled the entrance ol the hole 
up with stone : they supposed these were not 
eatable. 

We remained in No. 2 till the eighth, when we 
were again removed to the south side, on account 
of prison No. 2 being out of repair. This gave us 
ircdi hopes. As the noise had not yet entirely got 
silent, we thought best to stop all operations in 
No. 4 for the present. 

In the mean while, our court of judicature was 
sitting, and several persons were arraigned at the 
bar, and charged with having given information of 
our design to escape ; all the evidence against 
them was produced, but the crime being of a capi- 
tal nature by our laws, required positive and di- 
rect evidence, which the court considered had not 



116 

been produced ; and although very strong circum- 
stantial evidence had been given, yet they consid- 
ered that such evidence ought never to take a 
man's life, which must have been the case had 
any one been found guilty. 

We afterwards believed it must have been acci- 
dental ; that some person had spoken too loud, or 
in an unguarded manner in the presence of the 
turnkeys ; for we found no discovery had been 
made of the operations in No. 4 or 5, although 
Capt. Shortland had declared himself to be ac- 
quainted with them in No. 5. 

After the bustle of the discovery had a little 
blown over, and the officers and keepers had ridi- 
culed the futile idea of our making our escape, by 
saying they had guards and spies in all directions ; 
we then gave orders to the blacks in No. 4 to pro- 
ceed on with their work. At this time, the 10th, 
a draft of prisoners arrived from Chatham ; these 
were mostly men delivered up from ships of war 
in England, and some few were sent from the 
West Indies, Bermuda, and New Providence. — 
This draft increased the number of prisoners at 
this dep >t to three thousand five hundred in all. 

When these men arrived, we were under great 
apprehensions that they would be ordered into 
No. 5, and in the hurry and bustle of entering, 
before ihey were cautioned, might lead to a dis» 



117 

covery of the work in that prison ; but happily, 
they were ordered into No. 7, and all the white 
prisoners from No 4 ordered in with them ; and 
all the blacks were now to be kept by themselves. 
They were directed to proceed as we mentioned 
before, and to report their progress every evening. 
As the hole in No. 6 was farthest advanced, we 
formed a communication to let each other know 
{heir progress each day, that all the holes might 
proceed with equal progress, and come out at the 
Same time. 

With this arrangement we proceeded on, and 
on the 12th, in No. 6, we dug down, and the next 
day had gone quite round the stones which were 
thrown in to fill up the entrance of the hole, and 
came out into the former passage : this was done 
in the night, and in the day time we carried on the 
work in No. 5, disposing of the dirt as before. 

The work went on with the greatest care, se- 
crecy and success, and every man was animated 
with the liveliest hope of soon gaining his liberty, 
till each hole had come within thirty-five or forty 
feet of the intended place of coming out. 

We could always ascertain the distance we were 
from the top of the ground by measuring with our 
line and rule, and had concluded to work that dis- 
tance in one week : every man was now provided 

L 



118 

with a dagger, made by prisoners who worked ixi 
black-smithing. 

When the work was complete, we were to make 
our move some dark stormy night at the hour of 
ten, which wouki give every man who wished, an 
opportunity to reach Torbay, about ten miles dis- 
tance, at which place lay a large number of un- 
armed vessels, fishing boats and other small craft ; 
we could reach this place a little after midnight, 
and then proceed as fast as possible for France ; 
on leaving the outlet of the passage every man was 
to separate and take care of himself. "When we 
were once out, we had determined to reach France 
or sell our lives at the dearest rate ; for, by this 
time, life was of little consequence to us, when we 
compared it to the miseries we must suffer, if we 
should be brought back, and therefore we were de- 
termined to hazard it at all events. 

But I hasten from our future resolutions to re- 
lieve the reader from his anxiety, by showing the 
event. 

At this moment, when every man was well 
pleased with the prospect, how was his just indig- 
nation raised, and his fierce anger kindled ! — a 
man by the name of *Bagley, another Sinon, 
walked out in open day, before all the prisoners 

• This man belonged to p ortsmoutb, N. H 



119 

then in the yard, went up to the turnkeys and 
inarched off with them to the keeper's house, gave 
him information of all the operations and designs, 
and we never saw him after ; for could we have 
catchcd him, wo should scarcely have tried him, 
but should have torn him in atoms before the life 
could have time to leave his traitorous body. 

This Judas received the price of his iniquity 
from the Transport Board, and got a passport to 
go where he pleased, and the publick's humble 
servant put into the cachot ; — but I can tell him, 
should this work ever reach his infamous hand, 
that it is the sincere wish of every prisoner, that 
he may fall, and like that other Judas, his bowels 
may gush out. 

The prisoners were then immediately removed 
to the north side of the enclosure, and confined to 
No. 1 and 3 ; and to repair the damages which 
had been done to the prisons, Capt. Shortland put 
every man on two thirds allowance, and took the 
other third to pay expenses of repair ; this he did 
for ten days successively ; if we had eaten the dirt 
up, we had to starve it back again. 

Our hopes were all blown up to the moon, and 
we left to despair ; we had no prospect by which 
we could hope to be relieved, but every thing 
seemed to threaten us with imprisonment for life. 
We again resigned ourselves to our situation, and 



120 

placed all our hopes of life or liberty on that Al- 
mighty arm, which had brought us to these suffer- 
ings by His Divine pleasure. Every man with 
reluctance now returns to his usual occupation, 
hoping to gain a few articles of clothing, which 
he stood in need of. The shoes furnished by Mr. 
Beaslcy, which were the poorest that could be 
made in England, were now worn out, and we 
needed others. 

It was reported among the prisoners, that an 
exchange was about to take place ; but as we 
had no account to that effect from Mr. Bea&ley, 
«ve could place no dependence on it ; the only 
hope we had was in bribing the guards, and that 
®¥ peace. 

By letters from Plymouth, we had information 
that an action had been fought between the Essex, 
Capt. Porter, and the British frigate Phebe, Capt. 
Hillier, and a sloop of war. The action was 
long and severe, and much blood spilt on both 
sides ; and although the Essex was taken, the ho- 
nour of the day belonged to the Americans. She 
fought under every disadvantage, and gallantly 
nood the fire of both the enemy's vessels, and 
bore hard for a victory, till chance decided against 
The magnanimity of the officers and crew 
commands the noblest sentiments of respect from 
every American ; they deserved no common meed 



121 

©f praise ; I therefore undertook to celebrate 
their valorous deeds in verse. 

A large draft of prisoners from Chatham, arri- 
ved at this place the latter end of this month 5 
among them were great numbers of men, who 
had been detained on board His Majesty's ships 
from eight to twelve years, and one who had been 
detained eighteen years. The greatest part of 
this draft were men who had been delivered up 
from the navy : they were collected at Chatham, 
and brought round by water to Plymouth, landed, 
and then ordered to prepare to march for Dart- 
moor prison, the sufferings of which they had 
long been acquainted with, by report ; but pre- 
vious to their departure, they, anticipating their 
treatment there, prepared the following motto, in 
capitals, and fixed it to the fore part of their hats : 
" British gratitude for past services." With this 
on their hats, they marched the distance of eigh- 
teen miles. During the march, the officers tried 
every means to persuade them to take it off, but 
they absolutely refused, saying, it was truth, and 
as prisoners of war, they had a just cause to com- 
plain of the treatment and ingratitude of a 
government which they had so long served. They 
insisted that it was cruelty to make them prisoners, 
after they had served so many years as good and 
faithful servants ; and it was much more ungrate- 

L2 



122 

ful now, to send them to the worst prison m Eng- 
land, as a compensation for their long and faith- 
ful services. 

The garrison was now reinforced by a large 
number of soldiers, and the prisoners separated ; 
the whites, in the north and south wing, occupying 
two prisons in each yard, and the blacks, one in 
ihe centre. The prisoners were not permitted 
to have intercourse with one another from the. 
different prisons, except on Sundays. 

The number being now very large, it was fear- 
ed they would rise, and take possession of the 
j*aard house, and then make their escape. They 
had some ground to fear the event might take 
place, for the prisoners did not consider these 
walls, nor the soldiers, any very great obstacle in 
the accomplishment of such an undertaking, had 
it been their design. But they knew very well 
the consequence of doing this ; although, on the 
first sortie, the officers, soldiers and guards, must 
fall into their power, yet as the prisoners must ail 
march in a body to keep them under, the alarm 
would spread over all England, and the militia be 
raised upon them, before they would be able to 
reach the sea coast and take shipping. 

Capt. Shortland was in daily fear of such an 
attack, for there was scarce a day but some dis- 
pute or strife took place, between the turnkey? 



I 



123 

or guards and the prisoners, and kept a continual 
alarm. The prisoners would not hear any abu- 
sive language against the President of the United 
States ; and on the first disrespectful word from a 
sentcry, stationed singly in the yard, they would 
knock him down, and he could get no relief, till 
ihey were willing to release him, for the prisoners 
immediately surrounded him by hundreds ; and 
the garrison declared that they had more trouble 
with four thousand Americans, than they should 
have with twenty thousand Frenchmen. 

On the last day of this month, another draft ar- 
rived, among whom were the crew of the United 
States brig Rattle Snake and some others, sent 
from Halifax. 

The prisoners became sickly again, and up- 
wards of one hundred in the Hospital ; but they 
had much better attendance than before, having 
now a new surgeon, Doct. Magrath, to superin- 
tend that department ; he was a humane, skilful 
and attentive man, and a friend to the sick and 
distressed prisoner. I know of nothing more 
agreeable to the human feelings, than the presence 
of a friend by our sick bed ; and this man admin- 
istered more of the medicine of life by the sympa- 
thetic emotions of his heart, than all the anodynes 
in the apothecary's shop. 



124 

We had much rain and stormy weather during 
the month of September. One tedious month had 
now passed by, and another lay in hopeless pros- 
pect before us ; but our hopes were a little revived 
on the second of October by a letter, which we 
received from Mr. Beasley, informing us that a 
partial exchange would take place between the 
two countries. This exchange would extend to 
none but those taken in the United States 
vessels ; this letter was to inform the crew of the 
Argus more particularly, as they were the oldest 
prisoners taken in the United States service. — 
The same letter gave general information, that 
there was great prospects of a speedy peace be- 
tween the two belhgerants. 

Several persons made their escape by bribing the 
scnteries, after this nexes, and passing cut in the 
night, with a soldiers coat and cap on, under his 
protection. But this method was discovered and 
stopped, and eight only were able to make their 
escape by it. 

We received the account of the United States 
ship Wasp, sinking the Reindeer and Avon. 
T i particulars seemed too galling to their feel- 
ings to publish* After reading the account in the 
London paper, 1 composed ;t dirge, and put it up 
an the front of the prison, in full sight of all the 



125 

soldier-officers and guards, as a tribute of respect 
to the departed worthies of His Majesty's navy. 

Almost every draft of prisoners brought intelli- 
gence of new victories of the Americans by sea ? 
and every British paper was filled with complaints 
of American privateers destroying British proper- 
ty in their own waters, and in sight of their cities. 
The prisoners being animated with the success of 
the arms of their country, could not forbear ex- 
pressing their joy in some pleasant feat. The 
following anecdote has something of the features 
of the attack of Don Quixotte on the wind-mill. 
The prisoners the night after the news of the Wasp, 
took a jacket at twelve at night, lowered it down 
towards the ground along the rope of the prison ; 
the soldiers saw it and concluded it must be a man 
sliding down the rope to make his escape ; the 
alarm was given, and Capt. Shortland and all the 
soldier-officers, at the head of the picket, entered, 
and hailed the man on the rope, but no answer ; 
they then drew themselves up in martial array, 
and every man sat his teeth and screwed his cour- 
age up to the sticking place, ready for battle ; 
Capt. Shortland, an experienced officer, gave or- 
ders to fire, and instantly a volley of musketry 
was poured in upon the enemy, and down came 
the jacket 5 they rushed in upon it, and to their, 
astonishment, they had conquered a jacket. 



126 

The keepers who had been so insolent the day 
before, by wishing Mr. Madison in the prison, now 
showed great resentment, and cave themselves 
many airs upon the occasion. The soldiers dis- 
covered a candle burning in the prison, and called 
aloud, " put out that candle ;" but the order not 
being instantly obeyed, they discharged a volley 
through the window ; but a divine interposition 
of goodness seemed to direct the balls, for every 
one lodged in some part of the hammocks, which 
almost formed a solid column, and not a single 
man hurt or touched, though asleep in the ham- 
mocks. The next morning, I thought the battle 
with the jacket and the attack on the sleeping 
prisoners deserved to be celebrated in some sig- 
nal way, and sung like the deeds of the gallant 
Quixotte. 

It had been remarked by the prisoners that, 
about the time of some reverse of the arms of the 
enemy, the keepers treated them with much 
greater severity, and seemed to wish tow; 
their vengeance in retaliation on the prisoners. 

On the eighteenth, orders, together with a list 
of names, came, to discharge sixty-two of the ere w 
of the late United States' brig Frolic, who had 
been exchanged, and were to repair immediately 
to Dartmouth, thirty miles from the depot, to go 
en board the aitel Jancy. then lying at that place 



- 127 

with the greater part of her number, which con- 
sisted of prisoners late belonging to the United 
States' navy and army. 

Those sixty-two of the Frolic, were obliged to 
carry the baggage themselves or leave it behind,. 
for they were allowed no means to transport it. 
Twelve miles of the distance is water carriage : 
th? other eighteen is land; this distance they had 
to march on foot : they received a shilling each 
man, and one day's provision at the commencement 
of the journey. 

By le tiers from Plymouth, we received intel- 
ligence that another cartel, the St. Philip, was 
preparing to take on board part of her compli- 
ment at that place, then to proceed to Dartmouth, 
and receive the crew of the late United States' 
brig Argus, and her officers, and non-combatants 
from Ashburton. The same letters informed us that 
all the prisoners in England, then nearly five 
thousand, would shortly be removed to this prison ; 
and accordingly at the latter end of this month 
they ail were removed to this depot, and made, 
with some few lately from sea, five thousand and 
twenty. They were badly prepared to stand the 
inclemency of the approaching season ; they were 
all miserably clothed, and the shoes they had re- 
ceived from Mr. Beasley lasted but a few weeks, 
and they were now quite destitute, and very sickly, 



128 



and the weather cold and stormy for several days 
together. On the third we received a letter from 
Mr. Beasley, informing us that his clerk, Mr. Wil- 
liams, was on his way from London to this place 
with clothing, which he would distribute among 
the prisoners captured since the middle of last 
Mav. and to those captured before that date, he 
would deliver one shirt, and one pair of shoes and 
stockings, which should be their supply for nine 
months. The old prisoners stated their situation 
to Mr. Beasley by letter at the same date, and in- 
formed him that they were in need of clothing : 
that what they received in May was worn out, also 
their shoes, and that they were not supplied with 
sufficient bedding to make them any way comfort- 
able through the approaching winter, especially as 
they were sickly, and had the small-pox in the 
prison, and that they should not be able to endure 
the hardships of their condition, though their two 
and a halfpence a day was some relief: yet as all 
the workmen were turned into prison, and not 
permitted to go out any more on account of one 
man whom we believe to be Capt. Swain of New- 
Bedford, Massachusetts, taking a very sudden 
move and leaving the whole establishment, with- 
out giving notice ; this left them unprovided with 
^ullicient means to take care of themselves. 



12$ 

Now the surly blasts of chill November had 
made all surrounding nature wear the sad aspect 
of decay, and the bare-footed prisoher stood shiv- 
ering by the walls, in the pale and feeble ray of a 
winter sun, when Mr. Williams arrived with the 
clothing, as was expected, and on the third saw 
the crew of the Argus take their departure from 
this prison, to go on board the St. Philip, then ly- 
ing at Dartmouth, bound for the United States. 
The draft of this crew consisted of one-hundred, 
which was all that was taken from this place ; she 
had previously taken in her complement, except 
this number, at Chatham. Shortly after her sail- 
ing from Dartmouth she was so unfortunate as to 
spring her mast, and obliged to return into port. 

At this time the Phebe, and the late United 
States' frigate Essex, arrived in England. The 
editors who published the arrival of these two 
•hips, made no remark or observation whatever, 
only barely said they had arrived. 

The reader will not have forgotten the circum- 
stance of the four men, whom we mentioned were 
committed to close confinement, during the war, on 
suspicion of an intention to blow up the ship* 
We, at this time, made application to the Board of 
Transport, to mitigatethe punishment of these four 
men, late of the Surprise ; and who had remained 
eter since in close confinement in the cachot, but 

M 



130 

•ur petition was not granted ; the board said, the 
sentence had passed and could not be recalled, 
they must suffer according to the sentence. These 
poor fellows had endured the three months im- 
prisonment with a magnanimity becoming Ameri- 
cans. The prisoners seeing they could not get 
them relieved, agreed to allow them a half-penny 
a month out of every man's pay, which was cheer- 
fully done by every man. They supplied them 
with such articles as the board would allow them 
to have. 

Our hope now r brightened amidst the clouds of 
sufferings and despair, by the reports from Ghent 
of a speedy peace ; which swelled every London 
paper. 

The guards, both officers and soldiers, stationed 
here, were much disaffected with the government of 
the country ; and informed us, that the military 
through the whole kingdom had the same disaf- 
fection, and that they had gone so far as to in- 
form the government in direct terms, that if a 
peace did not take place before the first of April, 
that they would lay down their arms. 

The battle, and destruction of Washington, had 
now crossed the Atlantic, and was sounding with 
great applause to the British arms ; every paper 
was swelled with the most pompous dcscriptn i of 
the greal battle, and the unparalleled bravery and 



131 

magnanimity of their officers and soldiers, that had 
defeated and drove the whole American army, 
headed by Mr. Madison in person, and that they 
were in so close pursuit of him, that he had a se- 
vere race all the way from Bladensburgh to 
Washington ; which they were disposed to ridi- 
cule, by comparing to John Gilpin's celebrated 
race. 

They also gave a description of Washington; 
which they declared was one of the greatest cities in 
the known world : the grandeur and magnificence 
of it surpassed that of Paris or London ; it con- 
tained thirteen hundred spacious squares. But 
they did not mention, that those squares contained 
no houses or inhabitants. 

These stories could not gain the belief of persons 
acquainted with the American nation, and its capi- 
tal, but we were led to believe that the conduct on 
both sides deserved much censure, and that the 
burning of that capital was a disgrace to both na- 
tions. 

Nothing very material occurred among the priso- 
ners this month ; they received their monthly pay 
as usual, but were more sickly, and the weather 
cold and tedious, but could not be compared with 
the November before. The prisoners, though far 
from being as comfortable as they ought to be 
suffered much less, and were in a better condition 



132 

f.o endure the hardships of a prison than the year 
before, now they were supplied with one pair o£ 
^hoes and stockings, and allowed two and a half 
pence per day. They did not shrink at the ap- 
proaching season so much as before. 

Mr. Williams returned to London at the end of 
the month ; he had been with us all the month, dis- 
tributing the several articles above mentioned. 

As the season advanced the hard weather in- 
creased, and the snow fell in great abundance in 
die beginning of December, and the prisoners 
much chilled with the cold, applied for permission 
to keep fire, as had been permitted to the French 
prisoners, but were peremptorily refused and ab- 
solutely forbid. 

But to make the best of these evils of life, they 
applied themselves every man to some occupation ; 
they endeavoured to cherish and keep the mind 
dive if the body decayed, and to cultivate that 
nobler part of our being, they established a num- 
ber of schools, and the young men and boys were 
instructed in them for nearly two years, and many 
Of them, who were perfectly unacquainted with 
letters when they came to this prison, had acquired 
a tolerable education in the English branches of 
science. 

There has from the earliest ages of antiquity, 
been frequent instances of men, who have been 



133 

weary of life, and had not the courage and forti- 
tude to bear those ills which are incident to it, and 
have therefore, by a sort of false heroism, attempt- 
ed to avoid them by destroying their own life. The 
Stoic philosophy, which seemed to be a cultivated 
degree of insensibility, encouraged it, and called 
it heroism : but the act is cowardly, and a great 
offence against the laws of God and man. 

I have thought proper to premise these observa- 
tions, before I related the melancholy instance of 
a young man, a native 'of the city of New York, 
by the name of John Taylor, who put an end to 
his life on the first of this month, by hanging him- 
self in prison No. 5. 

By the position in which he was found in the 
morning, he must have been all intent on death ; 
he had fastened himself to one of the stantions, so 
that his toes could just touch the floor. We knew 
of no other cause than that despair had given him 
less courage to live than to die. 

Thinking it might tend to deter others from fol- 
lowing the example of this unhappy victim of des- 
pair, I procured a large slate, and engraved on it 
the following inscription, which 1 put at the head 
of his grave, where it remains on the moor, 

M2 



134 

Here lies 
JOHN TAYLOR, 

A native citizen of the city of New York, 
Who committed suicide, by hanging him- 
self in prison No. 5, on the evening 
of the first of December, 1814. 

1 then put over each prison as a caveat, the fol- 
lowing memento, as it was feared others would do 
the same act. 

Whene'er you view this doleful tomb. 
Remember what you are, 
And put your trust in God alone : 
Suppress that fiend, Despair. 

Lo ! there's entomb'd a geherous youth. 
Despair did doom to die ; 
By the hard act of suicide, 
John Taylor there doth lie. 

He hung himself within yon walls, 
A warning may it prove : 
Tho' man is wicked here below, 
There's a just God above. 

Be patient, meek, and wait His call. 
Endure these ills of strife : 
For great's the sin of mortal man, 
That tyjjrs away his life. 



135 

One knows not how to account for the origin of 
that act which takes away one's own life : self-love 
and self-preservation are so deeply rooted in the 
very nature of all living creatures, that it is the ulti- 
mate mo'.ive of all actions to endeavour to sustain 
and preserve life ; fear of destroying it is so in- 
stinctive in all animals, that they seem to flee from 
danger without any reasoning in the act, and al- 
most without knowing when the volition begins. 

But the suicide reverses every thing; he does an 
act which is not natural, not rational, not desirable? 
and dangerous ; he rushes into the presence of his 
God, with all his former crimes, and this most he- 
nious of all, brings him there. 

From the first to the twenty-sixth nothing mate- 
rial occurred, but a constant fall of snow every day, 
but the season was less severe than that of the year 
before. 

In the interim, prisoners arrived from different , 
quarters of the globe 5 some taken in Canada on 
the lakes, and others on the land : and amongst 
these arrivals was the crew of the privateer Leo, 
captured off the coast of Portugal. 

On the twenty-ninth, we were most agreea- 
bly surprised with the joyful tidings of peace ! — 
The preliminaries were announced in the London 
paper which we received this day, and the news 
was confirmed by a letter from Mr* Beasley ; _ re- 



136 

:eived the same day ; stating that the treaty had 
been signed by the commissioners at Ghent on the 
24th, and that the sloop of war Favourite would 
sail with the Treaty on the second of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and fifteen, with all possi- 
ble speed for the United States, and that three 
months would release every man from confinement. 

Language is too feeble to describe the trans- 
ports of joy, that so suddenly and unexpectedly 
filled every heart. Every man forgot the many 
tedious days and nights he had so often numbered 
over within these prison walls. The memory of 
his better days rose fresh in his mind, and he once 
more hoped to return to his native country, which 
he had so long despaired of ever revisiting ; his 
liberty, the embraces of his friends, he knew bet- 
ter how to prize by being so long deprived o* 
them. The delicious fruits of plenty he could by 
his imagination taste. 

The prison was now in great confusion and bus- 
tle, in preparing to celebrate the peace, which we 
were confident would be honourable to our coun- 
try. We were confident that the ground- work of 
the treaty must be free trade and sailors' rights ; 
and made arrangements to celebrate it in a man- 
ner conformable to the rights of the ocean. 

We obtained a quantity of powder of the sol- 
diers, unknown to the keepers, and made large 



137 

cartridges, wound them up in twine, so that whea 
exploded would make a report as loul as a six 
pounder ; we then procured a large ensign, and a 
pendant for each prison ; we prepared a white Hag 
in the centre, painted in large capitals, " Free 
Trade and Sailors' Rights.*' 

The next morning, to the astonishment of the 
©fficers and guards, we displayed the flags on the 
top of each prison ; and on No. 3, which was styled 
ihe Commodore, displayed the white flag with the 
above motto, and at. the same time fired a salute of 
seventeen rounds. 

Shortly after, Capt. Shortland entered the yard, 
and politely requested the white flag containing 
the motto to be taken down, as it would draw cen- 
sure upon him from the government, by holding 
©ut inducements for the sailors to mutinise ; he said, 
the government of Great Britain took care to 
suppress all such inflammatory mottos. - But the 
prisoners were too full of spirits to comply with 
the request at that time. They continued it till 
towards evening, when he again entered and so- 
licited us to take it down, or every thing would 
be in confusion ; he said, if we would take the 
motto-flag down, he would hoist an American en* 
sign on one end of his own house, and a British 
one on the other end ; and if we were not con- 
tented with this, he would order them all down ; 



138 

we then told him, out of respect for him, we would 
take them all down, and wait till the ratification 
of peace, before we displayed them again. 

On the thirty-first of this month, arrived a draft 
of prisoners, among whom were many who had 
given themselves up as American citizens, and 
claimed their right to a citizenship, and refused 
to act on board his Majesty's ships any longer ; 
these the prisoners did not give a very welcome 
reception ; for they had delayed till the act had 
become a wilful aiding and assisting the enemy, 
and the mischief now over. The constant cry 
among the sailors, who are great friends to Uncle 
Sam, was, Damn my eyes if he han't stood it like 
a man. 

Among those prisoners who had declared them- 
selves citizens of the United States, were six who 
had been in the enemy's service for many years, 
and were on board his Majesty's ship Pelican, 
when she engaged the United States' brig Argus, 
and took a very active part in the action against 
the Argus ; every man of them had been appoint- 
ed to some petty oiiicc on board the Pelican. 
But supposing a peace would shortly be concluded 
between the two nations, they had thought best to 
claim a citizenship, and obtain their release. This 
information soon spread among all the prisoners 



13© 

and enraged them to the highest degree at their 
conduct, and being flushed with high spirits with 
the late news of peace, were about to proceed to 
extremities with them, and they finding their lives 
were in danger, applied to Capt. Shortland for 
protection, who entered the prison yard with the 
guards and took these traitorous villains along, 
and we believe they went back into his Majesty's 
service; as the next day they were conveyed to 
Plymouth, and we heard no more of them. 

The weather was now very severe, and the old- 
est prisoners had not received any clothing since 
May, and were much in need of jackets and trow- 
sers ; of this fact the prisoners were a self evident 
and naked truth. Many were sick in the hospital. 

December thirty-first, 1814. Statement of pris- 
oners in prison at this depot. 

Prisoners delivered up from the • British 
navy. 1978. 

United States' and privateers' men, those taken 
in merchant vessels. 3348* 

Total, exclusive of those exchanged - 5326. 

Mr. Beasley, agent, had visited them once. 
They had received from him one jacket, one pair 
of trowsers, two shirts, two pair of shoes, and two 
pair of stockings, each man. 

Received from the British government, one 
hammock, one blanket, one horse rug, one bed, 



140 

one yellow jacket, one pair of trousers, one waist- 
coat, one pair of wooden shoes, and one cap. 

Received in cash one and a halfpence, to which 
was added one penny more after two months, each 
man per day, from the first of January, 1814. 

The weather still continued cold, and the oldest 
prisoners had not as yet received any shoes or 
clothes, but were daily expecting them from Mr. 
Beasley. 

We had been in this cold and dreary mansion, 
wenty-one months, and the above items were all 
the assistance we had received from Beasley, the 
only person in this foreign land of our enemies to 
whom we could look for any assistance, or from 
whom we had any right to expect it. 

Our ears had been constantly assailed with the 
groans of the sick, and the dying ; pestilence and 
disease had been our constant companions : our 
minds had become almost distracted betwixt the 
grief of our departed friends, and fellow prisoners, 
and the hunger and want of our own body. From 
such a long series of incessant sufferings, it is na- 
tural to suppose that the bodies were emaciated, 
^.nd the mind debilitated ; and much of the sameness 
tliat may appear in this narrative, is owing to a 
uniform state of misery, which will not admit of a i 
variety in the description. 



141 

Uapt. Shortland had got information on the se* 
cond of November, 1815, that the prisoners had 
counterfeited three shilling pieces, and passed 
them to the market people, for their country pro- 
duce, and shortly after he detected two men at* 
tempting to pass bad money ; he had them ap- 
prehended immediately, and sent to the cachot. 

Nothing worthy of note occurred till the twen- 
tieth, when two men lately arrived were discove- 
red to be the same who had entered the British 
service the winter before. After having received 
many insults, and much hard usage, on board the 
war ships, they had got tired of their situations, 
and claimed their citizenship and got themselves 
delivered up and sent to prison again, which they 
considered the least of the two evils. 

Their conduct on board the ships, was no doubt 
as disgraceful as the act they committed to bring 
them there ; they shifted from ship to ship, till 
the one wherein they claimed their citizenship 
was ignorant of the manner they had come into 
the service. The prisoners being highly enraged 
at such conduct, made strict inquiry into the mat- 
ter, and found the facts as above mentioned. — y 
After holding consultations, many were for putting 
them to immediate death, others were for flogging 
them as severely as they could bear, and every 
man for giving them some condign punishment 5 

N 



142 



but at last it was unanimously concluded to put 
upon them a mark, which would be a lasting stig- 
ma, and an example for others. They seized and 
took the traitors into prison, and fastened them to 
a table, so that they could not resist, and then, 
with needles and India ink, pricked U.S. on one 
cheek, and T. on the other ; which is United 
States traitor. After we let them go, they were 
taken immediately to the hospital, and their faces 
blistered on both sides, to endeavour to extract 
the ink, but this only made it brighter and sink 
deeper in. The doctors reported the traitors to 
be in a very dangerous state, and that their lives 
were despaired of. If this had been the case, it 
must only proceed from the application they had 
made use of, for no harm could arise from mark- 
ing. 

The next day, Capt. Shortland being oiFended 
at the treatment his friends had received, sent 
and had three men taken, whom he suspected 
-were concerned in the affair, and put them into 
the cachot, where they were examined not long 
after by the King's solicitor, and there ordered to 
remain till the next Exeter assizes, then and there 
to be tried by the laws of this country. On the 
twenty-fifth arrived five hundred suits of clothes, 
which were distributed among those who had last 
arrived, 



143 

The weather being very severe, and great 
quantities of snow falling, the men were obliged 
to keep within doors. On the same day arrived a 
regiment of regular troops, who themselves had 
been prisoners in France for many years during 
the late war between that nation and England. — 
They were much disgusted with the treatment we 
received here, and exclaimed against the authors 
of it, whoever they might be, and declared they 
had not received such treatment in France. 

At this time, the government not being so strict 
m their charge to the military, and the keepers 
not so strict in putting them in execution, and 
these new guards being very friendly, gave us a 
fine opportunity to escape over the walls, and many 
made their escape in dark stormy nights. This 
continued for some time, till one man was taken 
on the wall, in the very act ; then it was stopped. 
and strict orders given, 

On the twenty-sixth a draft of prisoners arri- 
ved, among whom were the crew of the privateer 
Neuf- Chattel of New- York, lately captured, and 
two navy officers captured on the lakes. On the t 
twenty-eighth these officers received their parole, 
and proceeded on to Ashburton, where all the pa r 
roled officers were stationed, 



144 



Nantucket Neutrality. 

On the thirtieth, Sir Isaac Coffin arrived with 
another British admiral ; Sir Isaac is a native of 
Massachusetts, and feeling some partiality to his 
native statesmen, requested Capt. Shortland to 
permit all the men who belonged to Nantucket to 
come alone into market square, which request was 
of course granted. He himself and thq other ad- 
miral, whose name we did not learn, held a long 
conversation with the Nantucket men, and in- 
quired the particulars of their birth, their friends 
and places of residence ; they then told them, 
should the war continue, they would be released, 
on account of belonging to a neutral Country. — 
They then took an affectionate leave of the citi- 
zens of that neutral nation, and went away. Such 
are the advantages derived from being a neutral 
nation in time of war. 

February commences with much snow and cold ; 
the prisoners in great anxiety for the ratification 
• >f the treat}'. 

On the fourth arrived a draft of prisoners, late- 
ly captured in the privateer Brutus. At this time 
a new, and most dreadful calamity now alarmed 
and endangered the life of every man; the African 
pox had, by some unfortunate means, got among 
the prisoners, and threatened destruction to every 
living soul. The disorder was so violent thai 



145 

when it attacked a person, he had nothing to ex- 
pect but immediate death ; numbers died daily. 

On the fifth, the London papers mentioned two 
American frigates cruising in the channel, which 
excited great alarm. 

On the sixth, the pestilence had grown so mor- 
tal, that the chief surgeon in England visited the 
prison ; he imagined the distemper to arise from 
a want of pure air ; that so many people crowded 
together in one building must render the air very 
impure, and unfit for respiration. He tried the 
difference of temperature of the air in the prison, 
and outside, which he found to differ twenty-five 
degrees byFahrenheit's thermometer, the air being 
much warmer inside. This difference of heat arose 
entirely from the heat of the human body, as no fire 
was kept in the prisons ; each prison now contain- 
ed about 1200 persons on an average. It is high- 
ly probable the distemper had generated itself in 
the bad state of air, and had not been introduced 
from abroad, as was first supposed. 

On the eighth arrived an order from the 
Board of Transport, for Capt. Shortland to ascer- 
tain the number and description of all prisoners 
belonging to the Island of Nantucket, for the pur- 
pose of giving them their discharge ; like the 
citizens of Denmark and Sweden, they were neu- 

traL 

N 2 



146 

On the tenth, arrived a draft of prisoners, lately 
captured on their voyage to France : on the same 
day. a number of prisoners were called on, to give 
evidence on the part of the crown, concerning the 
marking of the traitors in the cheek. 

The king's solicitor was a long while busy in 
endeavouring to obtain information, but all the 
satisfaction he got was, that they had heard by re- 
port that the men that marked the traitors, were 
to be tried at Exeter the next assizes. At the 
same time a small quantity of clothing arrived 
from Mr. Beasley, who it seemed always took care 
to send clothing to these who last arrived, as in 
this instance, although they had not been prisoners 
but a few weeks ; he seemed to have an idea that 
they always come into prison naked, and when 
they were there, one suit would last them all their 
life ; for the oldest prisoners had not received any 
clothing since the last May, and it was now ten 
months, and every garment entirely worn out. He 
supposed, that during two years imprisonment, 
such as we had had, we must have got used to 
every species of hardship, and that going naked 
was so slight an evil that we did not mind it at all. 
During the interval of time since the peace, 
> 1 1 1 e r slight evil, somewhat similar to the above, 
I ! cf.tllcn us, for the Contractor seeing we were 
illy to go to a land of plenty, was determined 



147 

to show us the difference in a man's feelings, be- 
tween eating and going without ; so he gave us no 
more than the simpleton gave his horse, while fee 
was learning him to live without eating. 

On the thirteenth, one of the four prisoners, 
whom we mentioned before were sentenced last 
August to remain in the cachot during the war, 
watched an opportunity to get among the other 
prisoners in the yard : being let into the yard of 
that building for the benefit of the fresh air, and 
seeing the attention of the turnkeys and soldiers 
occupied by some other object, at this time jumped 
over the iron railing that separated this building 
from the yards of No. 1, 2 and 3, and got undis- 
covered amongst the other prisoners ; the morning 
following he was missed by the keepers, and in- 
formation given to Capt. Shortland, who demand- 
ed the man from among us immediately, that he 
be returned to the cachot again. 

The prisoners positively refused to give the man 
up, and declared that no force of arms should 
wrest him from their protection. He then ordered 
the market closed, and would not allow any com- 
munication with it, and refused the prisoners every 
privilege, and gave them only their allowance. 

On the fourteenth, he entered the yard at the 
head of two hundred soldiers with fixed bayonets, 
and ordered every prisoner to retire within the 



148 

prisons, that search might be made for the prise 
ner, and he again remanded to the cachot ; but all 
the prisoners having previously agreed to stand 
by each other, and if they attempted to use any 
violence, to surround and disarm them, a signal 
was given to surround, and the soldiers were im- 
mediately surrounded, and the intention made 
known to the officers, and advised to retire, unless 
they were determined to risk the consequence. — 
They then very prudently ordered the soldiers to 
fall back, and retire without the yard, and leave 
the man whom they sought. 

The captain still harbouring rancour in his 
breast, thought to compel us to give up the man 
by force of starvation, and kept the markets closed 
against us, and compelled us to subsist solely on 
our scant allowance : but we to retaliate, forbid 
all prisoners going out of the yard to work, who 
at this time were about forty or fifty carpenters, 
masons, and other mechanicks, who were a great 
profit to the government ; this step put Shortland 
to great expense and inconvenience to procure 
others. 

He at last concluded to make peace, and restore 
tranquillity and let the man remain, and on the 
twentieth he again opened the markets to the priso- 
ners, and we permitted the workmen to go out 
and work again. The other three men remained in 




149 

the cachot, but a stronger guard was placed there, 
otherwise we were determined to release them by 
force. 

On the twenty-second, arrived a draft of priso- 
ners lately captured oft' the Cape of Good Hope, 
among whom were the crew of the late United 
States brig Syren; the treatment of these men be- 
fore they arrived at this place will be mentioned 
in the supplements to this work. These, together 
with others taken in other parts, arrived since the 
last enumeration on the last day of one thousand 
eight hundred and fourteen, made in all at this de- 
pot five thousand eight hundred and fifty, which 
were all the prisoners in England except officers 
on parole. The prisoners were barefooted, and 
very sickly. 

On the twenty-sixth of this month, is gazetted 
in the London papers, the official account of the 
capture of the United States frigate President, 
Com. Decatur. 

The editor says she was captured solely by the 
Endymion, of far inferior force ; he says the en- 
gagement was in the old English style, yard-arm to 
yard-arm. Knowing this to be a falsehood, I 
addressed a letter to the editor, requesting him to 
read a short piece of poetry which I enclosed. 

March commenced with cold and blustering wea- 
ther, and the prisons almost one continued scene 



150 

of sick and dying, the small-pox was raging with a 
desolating aspect, and the greatest anxiety con- 
cerning the ratification of the treaty ; afflictions, 
which seem never to come singly, were now pres- 
sing upon the back of one another ; pestilence, 
famine, and nakedness were not affliction enough, 
phrensy must be added. 

On the fourth, a man in the Hospital, in a sud- 
den fit of insanity, seized a knife and stabbed two 
of the nurses very dangerously, of which wounds 
Jonathan Paul died on the tenth, the other sur- 
vived. 

On inquiry into the circumstances of the de- 
ceased, we found him to have been a married man, 
and his wife had lived a little distance from the 
prison, since his confinement, who was in very 
narrow circumstances. 

We all agreed to give her the day's allowance of 
fish of that week, which we sold to the contractor 
and received the money, which amounted to nearly 
one hundred dollars ; this sum she received, and 
returned to her residence on the dav of the doath 
of her husband. 

On this day also, the three "men who were put 

into close confinement, for marking the traitors on 

the face, were taken out of the custody of the 

;it of prisoners of war at this place, by a writ of 

Habeas Corpus ad resjwdendum, and removed to 



151 

the criminal prison at Exeter, to be tried for the 
offence by the civil laws of this country. They 
were removed in irons. The prisoners then made 
a contribution for the support of these men while 
at Exeter. 

On the tenth, we received London papers, 
which gave an account of Bonaparte's having ar- 
rived in France at the head of about one thousand 
men, and that he was making the most rapid ad- 
vances toward Paris, and thousands joining him, 
that the greatest confusion was taking place in 
the affairs of France. 

This intelligence struck the greatest astonish- 
ment in all England, and created a very serious 
concern among all the military, who expected t« 
be relieved on the arrival of the treaty ratified by 
the President, but now they must despair of that 
idea, as new wars must inevitably follow the steps 
of that gigantick monster. 

On the fourteenth, a universal joy was diffused 
through the whole prison, and " a smile lighted up 
in the aspect of woe ;" the Favourite, the welcome 
messenger of peace, arrived and brought the treaty 
ratified by the President of the United States. 

I cannot better express the joy that diffused it- 
self through the whole country, Englishmen as 
well as prisoners, than by giving the following 
lines from a great author. 



152 

The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 
And leap exulting like the bounding roe. 
No sigh nor murmur the wide world shall hear. 
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear. 

We raised the ensigns and pendant on each 
prison, presented to Capt. Shortland and gentle- 
men under his command, an address in poetry. 

On the seventeenth, we were informed by Capt. 
Shortland, that he had received orders from the 
Board of Transport to discharge the prisoners 
whenever Mr. Beasley was ready to receive them. 
To the great disappointment of all the prisoner*, 
we had received no information from Mr. Beasley 
for six weeks, and the prisoners now were in the 
greatest anxiety. They reasonably expected that 
on the arrival of this ratified treaty, Mr. Beasley 
would have every thing in a state of readiness, 
for their immediate conveyance to the United 
States, and that he would inform them in what 
manner they were to proceed there ; but not a 
sellable was received from the agent of our coun- 
try till the eighteenth, v. hen a very cold and un- 
pleasant letter wasjreceived from him. which read 
as follows : 

" Fellow Citizens, 

I am informed that great numbers of the pri- 
soners refuse being inoculated with the small 



153 

pox, which T bear has been very mortal amoag 
you. I therefore acquaint you, that it will be im- 
possible for me to send home any prisoners, unless 
they have gone through the same. Yours, &c. 

R. G. BEASLEY." 

This strange letter rather increased the great 
anxiety every man was in, for we expected to have 
been informed something relative to our speedy 
departure, and that he had made arrangements 
to clothe the oldest prisoners, who were so na- 
kedj that they were unfit to be discharged. 

On the nineteenth, an order arrived, informing 
Capt. ShortlanJ to discharge thirty men, as they 
had been applied for by American captains, to 
man ships in France, and up the east country ; the 
Transport Board had ordered them to be dischar- 
ged. 

On the twentieth, Capt. Shortland released 
those three men, whom we have mentioned were 
committed to close confinement in the cachot last 
August, on suspicion of Mowing up the vessel ; 
the other we have mentioned made hi? escape. 

These men made as ghastly an appearance, as 
it is possible for human beings to make ; they had 
been eight months confined within a damp stone 
room twenty feet square, rloored with stone, and no 
light except a dim ray that gleamed through the 
top of the gable end. They had lived on two 

O 



154 

thirds of a scant allowance, till their trembling 
limbs could scarce support their body. 

On the same day, a writ came to remove the 
insane man, who had occasioned the death of 
Jonathan Paul, to Exeter, to have his trial ; also 
one to bring forward about twenty persons as 
witnesses, in this, and the trial of the three men 
whom we mentioned had been taken there for 
trial, for marking the traitors. 

The small pox raged now in a most alarming 
manner ; it being of the African kind, scarce a 
man recovered, after once being attack ?d and con- 
veyed to the hospital. 

After the arrival of the ratification of the trea- 
ty, great numbers visited the prison from all parts 
uf the country, with almost every kind of article 
for sale in the markets ; among whom were great 
numbers of Jews, who came here to sell old 
clothes. 

One of these Jew merchants on his way to the 
prison, met a farmer who lived about eight miles 
fonir the prison, and accused him of being an 
American prisoner, making his escape from the 
depot ; as great numbers had lately made their 
escape, and thinking to receive the reward, which 
wras three pound?, given by the government for 
apprehending any prisoner making his escape from 
on ; told the farmer he must go back to the pri- 



155 

son with him, and the farmer, having been once a 
sailor, was willing to confirm him in his suspicions, 
and began the song of Yankee Doodle ; this con- 
firmed the Jew in his belief of his being an Ameri- 
can, and he was sure he had got a prize worth 
three pounds to him ; but his prisoner re- 
fused to walk, and thinking he could afford to 
hire a conveyance for him, gave half a guinea to a, 
wagoner to take him to the prison, and treated 
him very liberally along the way with drink. — 
About 11 o'clock the Jew arrived with his prison- 
er, and applied to the keepers to take charge 
of him, and pay the reward of three pounds ; but, 
to his astonishment, the clerks, turnkeys, and 
every officer, immediately knew the farmer, and 
knew him to be a respectable man residing on the 
edge of the moor. He now demanded of the Jew 
a compensation for being detained several hours a 
prisoner, and the demand being justified by Capt. 
Shortland, the Jew was obliged to pay fire pounds 
to prevent a suit. 

The affair was made known to the prisoners, 
and every man forbid purchasing any thing of the 
Jew ; he was therefore obliged to leave the mar- 
ket without disposing of a single article. 

On the twenty-fourth, a letter was received 
from Mr. Beasley, informing those Americans who 
had been taken under the French flag, and had 



J 56 

been considered as French prisoners till the}* 
were dischargedj jNV<3 from that time till this, had 
been recognised by no government, that he was 
now author) zed to acknowledge them as Ameri- 
cans, and sent to each man a suit of clothes. — ■ 
Tnis was the first assistance these men had had 
from any government, since the French prisoners 
were discharged, and had lived entirely on the 
charity of the other prisoners. They had been 
prisoners four or five years. 

The same letter informed us that he had taken 
three ships at London for the conveyance of the 
prisoners to the U. States. 

The same day, a passport for four prisoners, 
who were to be discharged, was received. 

During this month many prisoners made their 
escape, the government appearing very careless ; 
and it was supposed this negligence was intention- 
al, that they might escape for the purpose of im- 
pressing, as the press was hot about this time ; 
but some few were detected when passing the 
wall, and sentenced to the cachot for ten days, on 
two thirds allowance, which, stopped the esca- 
ping for that time. 

On the twenty-fifth, the prisoners began to be 
impatient of such delay in the American a^ent, 
as eleven days had elapsed since the arrival of 
ihe ratified treaty, and nothing in readiness to dis-* 



157 

charge them, no means provided, and such delay 
too much to be borne ; their situation was such, 
that they could not restrain their resentment 
against such criminal neglect as their agent was 
guilty of; they were determined to punish him as 
much as it lay in their power ; they therefore caus- 
ed his effigy to be hanged on the top of one of the 
prisons, after which it was taken down, and burnt 
in presence of all the officers and soldiers. — 
But 1 must not forget to mention the sentence of 
the court, pronounced before his execution, and 
his dying confession, when under the gallows. 

St nt> \CC. 

At this trial, held at Dartmoor on the twenty- 
fifth day of March, one thousand eight hundred 
and fifteen, you, Reuben G. Bcasley in effigy, are 
found guilty, by an impartial and judicious jury 
of your countrymen, upon the testimony of five 
thousand seven hundred witnesses, of depriving 
many hundreds of your countrymen oi their lives, 
by the most wanton and most cruel deaths, by 
ni-kedness, starvation, and exposure to pestilence* 
It therefore becomes the duty of this court, as 
ought to be the duty of every court of justice, to 
pronounce that sentence of the law, which your 
manifold and henious crimes so richly deserve— 
And it is with the deepest regret that I am com- 
pelled to say, our country has been imposed upon? 

O 2 



158 

by a man Tvhose crimes must cut him off from 
amona- the living. You this day must be hanged 
by the neck on the top of the prison No. 7, until 
you are dead ; your body is then to be taken down 
and fastened to a stake, and burned to ashes, which 
are to be distributed to the winds, that your name 
maybe forgotten, and your crimes no longer dis- 
grace our nation. 

On hearing the above sentence, the compunc- 
tion of his conscience now brought forth the fol- 
lowing confession. 

CONFESSION. 
% Injured countrymen, and fellow citizens, 

" I this day, by the verdict of a just and impar- 
tial jury, and by the sentence of an impartial court, 
am to be made a public example, and receive that 
punishment which is so justly due to my many 
odious offences against the laws of God, and my 
eountiy ; and being in a very few moments to 
make my exit from this world, do confess, in the 
presence of Almighty God, that for the first 
twelve months oTmy consulship I did most criminal- 
ly neglect the American prisoners, who were dying 
daily for the want of my assistance, which I with- 
held through mercenary motives : the cries and 
petitions of my unfortunate countrymen I have 
always treated with the utmost disregard and con- 
tempt, but being fully convinced of all my past 



159 

errors, I make this public and candid confession, 
in hopes that I may find mercy in the presence of 
a just and merciful God. I further do acknow- 
ledge, that I have been the nieans of detaining 
you in your present situation by neg] to send 

you home, as I might have done-, while the ex- 
change was open for prisoners, which was not 
closed till June eighteen hundred and thirteen ; I 
likewise confess, that I have deprived great num- 
bers of you of your regular turns of exchange, by 
filling the cartels with paroled officers, who were 
not entitled to the same ; I must confess that had 
1 have made proper application to the British go- 
vernment, and had I used my influence, 1 might 
have obtained the release of all the men discharged 
from his majesty's ships of war ; but being selfish, 
and swayed by despicable motives, I made no ex- 
ertions for their relief. I do likewise confess, that 
after the second year of my consulship, I could no 
longer withhold from iny unfortunate countrymen, 
some little assistance in money and clothing, as 
the United States had given me positive orders to 
supply all the wants of her citizens, who were pri- 
soners of war at that time in England ; but to my 
shame, and to the disgrace of any American agent, 
I entered in a contract with a Jew m t of 

London, to supply the prisoners with the very 
meanest and coarsest clothing that could possibly 



160 

be procured in all England. At the same time I 
le advances to you. prisoners, of two and a half 
cents per day, and then represented to your coun- 
try, the Congress of the United States, that I had 
supplied all your wants by providing you a suffi- 
cient quantity of clothing, and making you a daily 
advance of money suitable to your wants ;f o r I 
did think that by deceiving the United States, and 
depriving you of the necessaries of life, I should 
in a, very few years accumulate to myself a very 
handsome fortune ; but to my great disappoint- 
ment and disgrace, the peace took place, and all 
my viliany and deception was discovered : my 
crimes stood in open day. For these crimes now 
I am justly doomed to this ignominious death, and 
must very shortly make my appearance before the 
just, and Almighty God, to answer for all my 
crimes ; where I expect there will rise up in evi- 
dence against me, the souls of hundreds of my de- 
parted countrymen, who now lie buried behind the 
walis of this prison by my crimes ; as the time is 
now expired, I must depart to the uncertainty of 
an hereafter." The hat drops. " I depart among 
the damned." 

After the ashes was scattered in the winds, the 
following dirge was then sung. 

The image of disgroce we've hang'd, 

And wish it was quite true 



161 

That Beasley had himself been there. 

And the devil burnt his Jew : 

For both contriv'd to wrong us much ; 

And they knew it very well, 

They'll always have the prisoners' prayer 

To send them both to hell. 
On the twenty-sixth, the prisoners who had been, 
taken to Exeter to give evidence against the in- 
sane man who stabbed Paul, and also those who 
were to give evidence against the three men who 
were accused of marking the traitors, returned 
to Dartmoor ; as did also the defendants who had 
had their trial, and were acquitted. 

On the twenty-eighth, we received our monthly 
pay as usual : the prison continued very sickly, 
and no preparation for our departure. 
► At this time the officers and soldiers of the gar- 
rison seemed greatly alarmed and much concerned 
at the news received from France. They had 
the greatest apprehensions of an immediate war 
with Bonaparte, as the Paris papers gave an ac- 
count of his being at the head of three hundred 
thousand men in arms ; and the British papers 
mentioned the great preparations they were ma- 
king in this country to assist the allies. The 
very name of the Emperor, and the mention of 
the battle of New-Orleans, made every British 



162 

officer and soldier turn pale, and shudder at the 

thought. 

On the last day of March, I collected the c :<act 
number of all prisoners at this depot, and noted as 

follows : 

In prison No. 1 - ■ 1769. 

In do. No. 3 972. 

In do. No. 4 1051. 

In do. No. 5 958. 

In do. No. 7 1563. 

In different employments about the stores 31. 

Employed in the hospital - - - 19. 

Patients in the hospital - - 130. 

Total at Dartmoor - - - 5693. ^ 

The following are the different descriptions of* 
prisoners, and the number of each class. 

There were of those discharged from British , 
ships of war and also those taken in England, 2200. 

Coloured people - - 1000. 

United States' soldiers and sailors 250. 

Taken on board of privateers and merchant- 
ships - 2243. 

Including those few mentioned, taken under the 
French flag. 

On the same day we received letters from Lon- 
don, informing us that the ships taken for our 
conveyance, lay wind bound in the Downs. 



163 

The month concluded with pleasant weather 
for Dartmoor ; sickness and small pox had some- 
what abated. 

The prisoners made a contribution for the 
assistance of a prisoner, who had lost an arm in 
attempting to take possession of the cartel, which 
was conveying them from Halifax to England. 

As this j*- intended to be a true and faithful ac- 
count of all the occurrences and circumstances of 
the American capUves in England, we cannot for- 
bearjmentioning some circumstances, which may 
appear triring. ar^l uninteresting to those wh© 
have not felt as- we have. 

The weather now being mild, and the pleasant 
season for crossing the Atlantic fast approaching, 
the prisoners felt the most insufferable anxiety 
for their departure. The winds being favourable, 
and seventeen days having elapsed since the rati- 
fied treaty arrived, they could not but wait with 
impatience for the cartels. 

On the first of March, Capt. Shortland receiv- 
ed orders to discharge twenty -one prisoners, who 
had applied to be released in England. Previous 
to this time almost alLthe men who had been de- 
livered from the BrrSh ships of war, had been 
paid at different times their prize money, and the 
waces due for their past services in the navy. 



164 

This day a man "by the name of Bratt, who had 
belonged to the United States' brig Argus returned 
to prise a. This man, at the time we were at- 
tempt'.;:^ to make our escape by digging out, was 
accused of dropping some unguarded expression, 
which had led to a discovery of our first attempt ; 
he was threatened to be put to death, by great 
numbers of prisoners, and the keepers fearing 
this might be the case, took him to the gumd 
house, where he remained till the crew of the 
Argus was discharged from prison, when he was 
also discharged with them, and went along with 
the crew to Dartmouth, and entered the cartel : 
he was there accused of the same as before, and 
threatened, and fearing his life might be taken, 
he escaped from the cartel, went into the country 
and worked at his trade, which was that of a 
blacksmith, and had resided there the whole 
* time. 

On the second we had information that the 

ship Milo of Boston had arrived in England in 

eighteen (|ays from that port; she w;,s the first 

\ erii an vessel which had reached this place 

since ce. 

On tin- same <h\\ we received a letter from Mr. 
I >■ isl ;•. . \\ hich read as Follows : 
•• ! Y!!>v. ( Citizens, 

" From the numberless letters 1 receive daily, I 



4 



165 

iind that the prisoners entertain an idea of my 
releasing any prisoners that are enabled with a 
sufficiency to provide for themselves ; I therefore 
must give you fully my intention on that subject, 
which is, to grant passports only to such persons 
as have friends or connexions in this country, of 
responsibility. 

" I must also acquaint you that I am making 
every possible despatch with the cartels for your 
conveyance to the United States, where you are 
much wanted, and the encouragement for seamen 
very great." 

This letter again revived the drooping spirits 
of the prisoners, who for many days had been al- 
most distracted with the tedium of suspense. We 
now felt that a few days would release us 
from this earthly hell, and like iEneas of old, pass 
by propitious gales from hell to heaven, and short- 
ly repose on the Elysian fields, in the arms of the 
goddess of liberty. 

The prisoners that had kept shops in the pri- 
sons for retailing small articles, such as tobacco, 
thread, soap, coffee, sugar, &c. now broke up, 
and every thing wajyn great confusion for want of 
these articles ; theWphops were a great advan- 
tage to those who kept them, and a great accom- 
modation to all the prisoners. There had been 
from sixty to eighty in each prison ; at these pla- 

P 



166 

ces all those small articles might easily be obtain- 
ed, though at somewhat higher price than in the 
market. 

Our salary would not go far in purchasing these 
articles, which were very high at this time all 
over England ; we Could buy for a penny sterling, 
only one small chew of tobacco, which was sel- 
ling at Plymouth by the quantity at nine shillings 
and six pence per pound. 

We find mentioned in the paper of this day r the 
arrival of the late U. States frigate President at 
Plymouth ; they barely mention that she had ar- 
rived at that place, and that she was captured by 
the Endymion, but the circumstances of the cap- 
ture they very prudently left out, as reflecting no 
honour on the captors. 

Capt. Shortland had two men committed to 
close confinement, who had been accused of draw- 
ing money from the Directors of Greenwich Hos- 
pital, under assumed names. 

On the fourth, a circumstance occurred, which 
may lead to the recital of other circumstan- 
ces, which many to whose hand this work ma\ 
come, may be inclined to d<J(ubt the veracity of: 
but \ can appi-alfnot only to mose who have certifi- 
ed this work, but to nearly six thousand of my fel- 
low prisoners, who upon their solemn oath can at- 
test iodic truth of what is herein contained, 



161 

During the whole of this day the prisoners re- 
mained without bread, and the captain of the pri- 
son gone to Plymouth ; we were obliged to subsist 
on the four and a half ounces of beef, and the 
soup made of it ; we demanded of the contractor 
the reason of our not drawing our usuad allowance 
of bread ; he answered, that it could not be ob- 
tained till to-morrow ; we waited as patiently as 
our feelings would allow, till the expiration of 
thirty-six hours from the time we had received the 
last bread, when hunger became so pressing, that it 
drove us to a state of desperation, and we could 
no longer endure it, as the whole allowance was 
scarcely sufficient to sustain life. At dusk in the 
evening, we again demanded the reason of our not 
receiving our allowance of bread as usual, as the 
store-house we well knew contained a sufficiency 
of both hard and soft bread. The contractor's 
clerk informed us, that a quantity of damaged 
hard bread, which had been kept in reserve for 
times of extreme necessity, now remained on hand, 
and that unless we would accept of one pound of 
that in lieu of the pound and a half of soft bread 
allowed by the Transport Board, until all they 
had was expended,^! should not serve us with 
any bread, until Capt. Shortland returned from 
Plymouth, 



168 



The prisoners then collected themselves into 
companies, to consider of this very extraordinary 
conduct in the contractor; and after mature de- 
liberation, they all concluded that it must be a de- 
sign in the contractor to get rid of his damaged 
ad. before we went away, and had taken this op- 
portunity, while the captain was absent, to compel 
us to receive it by starving us till we were wil- 
ling ; we therefore concluded rather to die by the 
sword, than the famine, and determined to remain 
no longer in this starving condition, for we had all 
ived solely on the four and a half ounces 
ot beef. Thus desperate by starvation, we deter- 
mined to force open the gates in front of the prison, 
via the soldiers, break open the store-hous.* 
and supply ourselves ; and provided the garrison 
should charge or fire upon us, to make a general 
attack, and take possession of the guard house 
and barracks, and stand the consequences let come 
what might. Accordingly at dark, the prisoners 
were ordered, as usual, inside the prisons to be 
locked up for the night, but instead of complying 
with orders, a signal previously [ on was 

• n, and passed like lighting through every 
and. every prisoner ^pj Instantly at 

. Mo in one solid body: on approaching the 
• i I bursting o '''.<' first three, tl • sol- 

ind turnkeys stationed mere, fled in the u1 



169 

most confusion and consternation to the main 
feody in the guard house. The alarm bells rung 
and the drums in every direction around the gar- 
rison beat to arms ; the women in the different 
houses connected to the depot, flew in confusion 
and terror in every direction from the depot ; in a 
few moments the alarm had reached the neigh- 
bouring villages for many miles, and the militia 
assembled in arms to assist the garrison, which 
was at this time twelve hundred. We stood ar- 
ranged in front of the store-house ready to re- 
ceive the attack of the soldiery, or receive our 
usual allowance of bread ; in a few moments the 
soldiers arrived and advanced with charged bay- 
onets within two yards of the prisoners. The 
soldiers were then brought to a stand by the 
threats of the prisoners, who all declared, in the 
most determined tone, that if they attempted to 
fire or make a charge on them, they must abide 
by any consequences that would follow : we told 
them that we were confident that no such orders 
had been issued from the government of Great 
Britain ; we also told them, that unless the bread 
was served out immediately, that the store-house 
should be levelled mth the ground, and every 
prisoner should march out of the prison. The 
contractor, clerks, &c. then immediately came for- 
ward and entered into this engagement, that if the 

P 2 



170 

prisoners would retire into the prison yards, that 
the bread should be immediately served to them ; 
the prisoners agreed and retired, and for the se- 
curing the fulfilment of the engagement, they 
took with them as a hostage one of the clerks inside 
of the prison, and there to remain till every prisoner 
had received his usual allowance of bread, which 
was not till after twelve o'clock at night. During 
this time, the guards, soldiers, keepers, and every 
person connected with the prison, remained in the 
greatest apprehension, fearing the prisoners 
some further intention than merely to obtain theii 
bread ; they feared their troubles would end in a 
more serious way, and the prisoners all make 
their escape. But next mora io.ved that the 

prisoners had no intention of escapi 
the confusion of the night, many of them ha I ta- 
ken the opportunity to scale the walls in an o] 
site direction, while the attention of the guard was 
taken up with the main body of th« 

Those that had gone out after remaining all 
night, came and demanded admittance into prison 
again. Tins movement in the prisoners astonished 
the natives of the moor, who left vacant their huts 
an i fled for safety ; the wqfen and children had 
I to the nearest towns I there took refuge, 

I the men had joined the garrison for protection. 



171 

During the night an express was sent to Ply- 
mouth to acquaint Capt. Shortland of the event, 
and that the prisoners had complete possession of 
the whole garrison, and the control of all things at 
Dartmoor. In the morning Capt. Shortland ar- 
rived with a reinforcement of two hundred sol- 
diers ; but found all things quiet and tranquil ; as 
the prisoners had obtained their usual allowance 
of bread, they were satisfied and sought nothing 
more. Capt. Shortland made an apology for the 
fault of the contractor, and things passed on tolera- 
bly well ; but great suspicions remained among 
the people who had formerly attended the market 
smcl these had spread abroad and become the gene- 
ral opinion outside of the walls, that the Ameri- 
can prisoners being detained so long since the 
ratification had arrived, now three weeks, in which 
time Mr. Beasley might have had all discharged, 
and on their passage to the United States, had 
grown impatient, and as no ships had yet sailed 
from London to receive them, their forbearance 
was quite exhausted, and from some threats that 
had been thrown out by some of the prisoners in 
presence of the market people, that if the agent of 
their country did not*" procure their release with- 
in one month from the arrival of the treaty, that 
they would take their liberty in a body, being de- 
termined to risque their lives at all hazards, and 



172 

depend on their own exertions for their liberty 
among armed soldiers, rather than remain in the 
wretched condition they were then in. These 
suspicions fta i gone so much abroad, that every 
body about the prison was apprehensive the pri- 
soners would make the attempt to escape in a 
body, and some unhappy issue grow out of it. 
Bat the prisoners generally had no design of es- 
caping, as by that means they would lose their op- 
portunity of returning home in tne cartels. On the 
sixth, we addressed a letter to .'Jr. Beasley, on the 
subject of our discha, - . . ii informed him that 
we had made application to the British govern- 
ment to interfere in forwarding our release, as he, 
Mr. Beasley, had delayed the time already nearly 
one month, and had only procured three ships, 
and them still in London, when at the same time 
ships could have been procured at Plymouth, on 
equally as good terms as at London, which would, 
with very little exertions on the part of Mr. Beas- 
ley, have released the greater part of the prison- 
ers in two weeks, from ihc arrival of the ratifica- 
tion of the treaty. 

The story I am about to relate is of the deepest 

concern, as well to evei en of the Unted 

States, as to those who were the immediate sub- 

a of it. The event concerns the interest of 

botii governments, and deserve to be treaied m 



173 

the most candid and impartial manner ; every tran- 
saction whereby the intention of those acting in it 
can be discovered, require to be shown in the 
purest and most open view. 

That the public may have all that can be known 
on this important subject, I propose to lay before 
them, in the first instance, what passed within my 
own knowledge, that I myself was witness to : 
then to give them the report of the committee ap- 
pointed by the prisoners, to investigate the circum- 
stances of the massacre ; and lastly, to give the 
report of the agents appointed by the two govern- 
ments. 

What one of that nation, or what soldier of that 
hardened, wretched band, can refrain from tears 
even while he relates the murderous deeds ? 

" What blind, detested madness could afford 

Such horrid license to the murd'ring sword 1" 

Though the scene is of painful memory, and my 
soul shudders at the remembrance, and hath 
shrunk back with grief at the thought, yet will I 
relate what my eyes hath seen and my ears heard. 

On the sixth of this month, April, about six 
o'clock in the evening, Capt. Shortland discovered 
a hole in the inner wall, that separates the bar- 
rack-yard from prison No. G and 7 ; this hole had 
been made in the afternoon, by some prisoners out 
of mere play, without any design to escape, 



174 

On discovering the hole, Cant. Shortland seemed 
instantly to conceive the murderous design ; for 
without giving the prisoners any notice to retire, 
lie planted soldiers in proper positions on the top 
of the wall, where they could best assist in perpe- 
trating his murderous and barbarous deeds. 

A few minutes past six, while the prisoners were 
innocently, and unapprehensive of mischief, walk- 
ing in the prison yards, and those m No. 1, 3 &; 4, 
were particularly so, as the yards of these prisons 
are entirely separated every way from the yard in 
which the hole in the wall had been made ; — the 
alarm bells rung, and the drums of the garrison in 
every direction beat to arms ; this was about ten 
minutes past six. 

This sudden and unexpected alarm, excited the 
attention of all the prisoners, who out of curiosity 
made immediately for the gates of the prison yard, 
to inquire the reason of the alarm. 

Among so many as were in this depot, it is rea- 
sonable to suppose that some mischievous persons 
were among them, and among those collected at 
the gate were some such persons who forced the 
gates open, whether by accident or design I will 
not attempt to say ; but without any intention of 
making an escape, and totally unknown to every 
man, except the few who stood in front of l c 

gates; those back naturally crowded forward^ 



17b 

see what was going on at the gates ; this pressed 
and forced a number through the gates, quite con- 
trary to the intention of either those in front or 
those in rear. 

While in this situation, Capt. Shortland entered 
the inner square at the head of the whole body of 
soldiers in the garrison ; as soon as they entered, 
Capt. Shortland took sole command of the whole, 
and immediately drew up the soldiers in a position 
to charge. 

The soldier-officers, perceiving by this move, 
the horrid and murderous design of Capt. Short- 
land, resigned their authority over the soldiers, 
and refused to take any part, or give any orders 
for the troop to fire. 

They saw by this time, that the terrified priso- 
ners were retiring as last as so great a crowd would 
permit, and Hurrying and flying in terrible flight, 
in every direction to their respective prisons. 

The troop had now advanced within three yards 
of the prisoners, when Capt. Shortland gave them 
orders to charge upon them : at this time the 
prisoners had all got within their respective prison 
yards, and were flying With the greatest precipi- 
tation from the point of the bayonet; the doors 
now being full of the terrified crowd, they could 
not ente • as fast as they wished ; at this moment 
of dismay, Capt. Shortland was distinctly heard 



176 

to give orders to the troops to lire upon the priso- 
ners, although now completely in his power, and 
their lives at his disposal, and had offered no \ ; o- 
lence, nor attempted to resist, and the gates all 
closed. 

The order was immediately obeyed by his sol- 
diers, and they discharged a full volley of musketry 
into the main body of the prisoners, on the other 
side of the iron railings which separated the pris- 
oners from the soldiei . 

These volleys were repeated for several rounds^] 
and the prisoners falling-, eit : lei lead or wounded. 
in all directions, while it was yet impossible (or 
*-hem to eater the prison, on account of the num- 
bers that flew there for refuge from the rage oi the 
bloo l-thirsty murderer. 

In the midst of this horrid slaughter, one man 
among the rear prisoners, with groat presence oi 
mind and the most undaunted courage, turned and 
advanced to the soldiers, amidst the fire of hun- 
dreds, and while his fellow-prisoners were falling 
all around him, and in a humble and suppliant 
manner, with his hat in his hand, this resolute soul 
in the face of danger and death, implored m< rcj 
of Captain Shortland to spare his countrymen 
O ! spare my countrymen ! he cried : O ! Captaiij 
firbear, dont kill us all! — To this supplication 
this cruel, inexorable Shortland replied — Retire, 



177 

you damned rascal : I'll hear to nothing ! The sol- 
diers then pricked him with their bayonets, which 
compelled him to retreat to the prison-door, where 
he must wait his doom with the other unfortunate 
prisoners, till the soldiers, who had now entered 
the different prison yards, and were pursuing and 
firing, should despatch him with the rest. 

To do justice to the merits of this young man, 
I must inform the public that his name is Green- 
low, of Virginia, and late a midshipman in the U. 
States navy, but now a prisoner of the crew of the 
privateer Prince of Neufchattel. 

The soldiers now advanced, making a general 
massacre of men and boys, whom accidents or 
impossibility had left without the doors of the 
prison ; they advanced near to the crowded doors, 
and instantly discharged another volley of mus- 
ketry on the backs of those farthest out, endea- 
vouring to force their passage into the prison. 

This barbarous act was repeated in the presence 
of this inhuman monster, Shortland — and the priso- 
ners fell, either dead or severely wounded, in all 
directions before his savage sight. 

But his vengeance was not glutted by the cruel 
murder of the innocent men and boys, that lay 
weltering and bleeding in the groans and agonies 
of death along the prison-doors, but turned and 
traversed the yard, and hunted a poor affrighted 

O 



178 

wretch, that had flew for safety close under the 
walls of prison No. 1 , and dared not move lest he 
should be discovered, and immediate death be his 
lot. 

But alas ! the unhappy man was discovered by 
these hell-hounds, with this deamon at their head, 
and with cool and deliberate malice, drew up their 
muskets to their shoulders and despatched the un- 
happy victim, while in the act of imploring mercy 
from their hands. His only crime was not being 
able to get into the prison without being shot be- 
fore. 

In the yard of No. seven, they found in their 
hunt, another hapless victim, crouching close along 
the wall at the far end of the yard, and fearing to 
breathe, lest he should share the fate of his unfor- 
tunate countrymen that had already fallen a sacri- 
fice to the rage of this lawless banditti ; when O ! 
cruel to relate, five of them drew up the instru- 
ments of death, and by the order of this fell mur- 
derer, discharged their contents into the body of 
this innocent man, while begging them to spare his 
life! 

This Kern, now having accomplished his mur- 
derous designs, retired with his troops from the 
yard, and left it a horrid scene of his relentless 
rage ! 



179 

The dead and the wounded lay scattered about 
the yard ; seven were killed dead on the spot, and 
six with the loss of a leg or an arm, and dange- 
rously wounded : several were pronounced mortal. 
The names of every man, either killed or wound- 
ed, will be given in the catalogue annexed. 

As it was much feared the murderers would en- 
deavour to conceal many of the dead, Dr. M'Grath, 
head surgeon of the Hospital, an honest skil- 
ful man, entered immediately after Shortland re- 
tired, and exerted his utmost ability in collecting 
the dead and wounded from the several prison 
yards, and conveying them to the Hospital. 

At the same time, he sent to the neighbouring 
towns to call in the aid of medical gentlemen that 
resided there ; he also demanded admittance into 
the prisons, which were now closed, to receive the 
dead and wounded that had reached the inside of 
the prison. 

A despatch was immediately sent to Plymouth^ 
to inform the Admiral and Commodore, and the 
Commander in Chief of the Military Department, 
of the fatal sixth of April, one thousand eight hun- 
dred andflfteen; which day must be of horrid mem- 
ory to every American, whose mind will revolt with 
indignity at the name of SHORTLAND and the 
MASSACRE AT DARTMOOR ! ! 



180 

lland! thou foul monster and inhuman vil- 
lain ! is thy soul glutted with the blood of the in- 
nocent victims, that fate had doomed to thy re- 
vengeful and blood-thirsty power ?. I appeal to the 
world to say. whether the conduct of Warren Has- 
tings, whether the massacre of St. Domingo, can 
oxcced the horrid catastrophe of this ill-fated 
night, conducted under the immediate inspection 
of your murderous eye ? and should the laws of 
your country not doom you to a death of the 
most severe nature, as a publick example for your 
well known crimes, your whole nation is involved 
black accomplice in your monstrous guilt \ 
and the blood of my unfortunate countrymen, shed 
by your base hand, must ever remain a stain to the 
character of your nation. 

Tell me, ye bloody butchers ! and thou who 
contrived, as well as ye who executed the execra- 
ble design, how dare ye breathe that air, which 
wafted to the car of Majesty the groans of the 
wounded and the dying ? How dare ye tread that 
earth, which is wet with the blood of the innocent; 
I by your accursed hands ? Do not the goads 
and stings of conscious guilt wound you in your 
daily walks ? Do not the ghosts of the murd 
rise before you in your nightly dream- ' 

On the morning of the seventh, by order of the 
commander in chief at Plymouth, a Colonel, wi 



* 181 

reinforcement of troops, arrived, and took com- 
mand of the depot. Immediately on his arrival, 
he sent notice to the prisoners of his taking the 
command, and that Capt. Shortland wished the 
prisoners to appoint some few men to receive the 
explanation of his last night's conduct ; but we 
unanimously agreed, and despatched a letter to the 
colonel, acquainting feim,that as citizens of the Uni- 
ted States of America, we shoulJ conceive it a dis- 
grace to the national character of our country, to 
hold any communication with the murderer of- our 
fellow citizens. But provided the' Colonel should 
require any conference with the prisoners, they 
should at any time with pleasure attend, and ex^ 
plain the nature of every past event. 

The colonel requesting a conference, came to the 
gate attended by the guilty Shortland, who could 
not how (disguise the guilt of his crime ; he could 
not look a prisoner in the lace; as he walked along 
towards the prison bars with Ins eyes fixed on the 
ground, and as he came to the spot where a lew 
hours before lay one of oar murdered countrymen, 
he saw the blood, and faintly attempted to speak, 
but the monitor of Heaven was not quite over- 
c. ie by the powers of Hell, and he could not ut- 
ter a word. After several efforts, he hesitatingly 
attempted to justify his conduct, by saying it was 
a part of his duty, which was grounded on the 

Q 2 



182 ♦ 

fear he had of the prisoners making an attempt 
to escape, and imputed part of the fault to Mr. 
-ley, in driving the prisoners to a state of des- 
peration by his great delay of sending them 

The Colonel very patiently heard the stories of 
both parties, and promised a jury of inquest should 
be held over the bodies of our departed country - 

p the next day,and a strict investigation of every 
circumstance of the event had according to evi- 
dence. 

At nine o'clock, we hoisted the colours half- 
mast on every prison : we then visited the hospi- 
tal, but the spectacle was painful indeed, and 
enough to freeze the blood of the most hardened 
parricide : the tables were covered with the am- 
putated legs and arms of our fellow prisoners, and 
our ears stunned with the groans of forty-two 
wounded in a most shocking manner, and seven 
lay dead as solemn witnesses of the horrid act. 

We then returned to the prisons and appointed 
a committee of ten to take depositions of a great 
number of persons who were best acquainted with 
the particular facts. The committee being seve- 
[y sworn, proceeded to make all possible in- 
y into the circumstances of the massacre, and 
prepare every testimony to lay before the jury, 
which were to sit over the bodies the next day. 



183 

At two in the afternoon arrived an Admiral and 
another officer of high rank in his Majesty's na- 
vy, and after introducing themselves to the pri- 
soners, in a very friendly and feeling manner, ex- 
pressed their extreme regret for the horrid and 
barbarous act of Capt. Shortland, and informed 
us that they had come clothed with proper autho- 
rity to make inquiry into the conduct of Capt. 
Shortland in the late unhappy event, and his con- 
duct during his agency at the prison. They as- 
sured us, that he would be called to an account by 
government, and that a fair investigation 
should be had of all his conduct. 

I have omitted to mention a circumstance which 
occurred during the dreadful scene of the night. 
A lamp-lighter, who was in the act of lighting the 
lamp at the door of prison No. 3, in which ! i v 
self resided, being compelled to take refuge 
among the prisoners, was forced by the hurrying 
group into the prison. He belonged to the same 
regiment of soldiers who were that moment com- 
mitting these most horrid outrages. He was imme- 
diately seized by the prisoners, and conveyed to a 
particular part of the prison, and the prisoners 
being in the most enraged state, it was immedi- 
ately proposed to put him to death, and sacrifice 
him to our resentment, as a just retaliation of cur 
injury ; but on cool deliberation and debate 



184 

throughout the prison, it was thought better to 
spare him ; and to the pleasing astonishment of 
this man, half dead with fear, he was told to rest 
easy ; for his life should not be taken, but he should 
be preserved, that the whole world might distin- 
guish the difference of humanity between unpro- 
voked British soldiers, and the injured and pro- 
voked American seamen ; accordingly, when the 
doors were opened to take out the wounded, the 
man was released, which astonished and confound- 
ed the whole soldiery, who felt the force of the re- 
proach with the keenest remorse, and were com- 
pelled to express the highest respect for this 
generous revenge. 

T he following is a correct list of killed and wound- 
ed on the 6th of April, 1815, and contains a 
true statement of their condition at 12 0°* clock 
on the Qth day of the same month. 
Killed, 
John Haywood, black, Virginia, discharged ; the 
ball entered a little posterior to the acromion 
of the left shoulder, and passed obliquely up- 
wards ; made about the middle of the right side 
its egress of the neck. 
Thomas Jackson, N. Y. Orbit of N. Y. the ball 
entered the left side of the belly nearly in a line 
with the navel, and made its egress a little be- 
low the false ribs in the opposite side ; a large 



185 

portion of the intestinal canal protruded 
through the wound made by the ingress of the 
ball. He languished until 3 o'clock of the 7th, 
when he died. 

John Washington, Maryland, Rolla privateer ; 
the ball entered at the squamore process of 
the left temporal bone, and passing through the 
head, made its exit a little below the cruceal 
ridge of the occipital bone. 

James Mann, Boston, Ciro ; the ball entered at 
the inferior angle of the left scapula, and lodg- 
ed under the integument of the right pectoral 
muscle. In its course it passed through the 
inferior margin of the right and left lobes of the 
lungs. 

Joseph Toker Johnson, not known ; the ball en- 
tered at the inferior angle of the left scapula, 
penetrated the heart, and passing through both 
lobes of the lungs, made its egress at the right 
axilla. 

William Leverage, N. Y. Saratoga : the ball en- 
tered about the middle of the left arm, through 
which it passed, and penetrating the corres- 
ponding side, betwixt the second and third ribs, 
passing through the left lobe of the lungs, the 
mediartenum, and over the right lobe, lodged 
betwixt the fifth and sixth ribs. 

James Campbell, N. Y, discharged ; the ball < 



186 

tered at the outer angle of the right eye, and 
in its course fractured and depressed the great- 
er part of the frontal bone, fractured the nasal 
bones, and made its egress above the orbiial 
ridge of the left eye. He languished until the 
morning of the 8th, when he died. 

Dangerously wounded, and limbs amputated imme- 
diately, on the night of the sixth, 

John Gray, Virginia, prize to the Paul Jones, left 
arm. 

James Wills, Marblehead, Paul Jones, left arm. 

James Trumbull,Portland, Maine, Elbridge Gerry, 
left arm. 

Robert Willet, Portland, Maine, left thigh. 

Thomas Smith, New- York, Paul Jones, left thigh. 

John Gier, Boston, Rambler, left thigh. 

Wm. Leversage, N. York, Magdalen, right thumb. 

Dangerously wounded, limbs not amputated 

on the bth, 

Thomas Findley, Marblehead, Enterprise, wound- 
ed m the thigh and back. 

Ephraim Linson. 

John" Hogerberth, Philadelphia, Good Friends, of 
do. thigh and hip. 

William Blake, Kennebeck, discharged, M. W. 
three wounds in the body. 

Peter Wilson, New- York, Virginia Planter, in the 
hand. 



187 

James Israel, do. do. thigh. 

Jacob Davis, do. do. thigh. 

Caleb Cotton, Taunton, Mass. M. W. two places 
in the body. 

John Roberts, do. do. thigh. 

Joseph Phipps, Old Concord, Zebra, thigh and 
belly. 

William Lamb, do. do. eyes. 

Edward Gardner, Marblehead, impressed, in the 
wrist. 

William Appleby, N. York, Magdelen, arm. 

James Bell, Philadelphia, Joel Barlow, wrist and 
thigh. 

Philip Ford, Philadelphia, impressed, five wounds, 
side, breast, back, and thigh. 

James Birch, thigh. 

Henry Montcalm, Roxbury, Mass. Governor Tom- 
kins, knee. 
indrew Garrison, thigh and head. 

Robert Tadley, Bath, Maine, Grand Turk, pri- 
vates. 

William Penn, Virginia, impressed, thigh. 

Joseph Reugh, thigh. 

Thaddeus Howard, Rochester, Mass. Hart of Bed- 
ford, leg. 
Edward Banker, Portsmouth, N. H. impressed, 
back. 



188 

Xhomas George, Norfolk, Virginia, U. S. Rattle- 
Snake, thigh. 
Alexander Wilson, Providence, R. I. Leo. hand 

and leg. 
John Surrey, N. Y. French privateer, cheek. 
Nathaniel Wakeneld, Beverly, Mass. Ciro, right 

knee. 
Samuel E. Tyler, Boston, Tom, thigh and arm. 
Joseph Reaver, Salem, Mass. legs and thighs. 
Stephen S. Vincent, New-Jersey, head and ears. 
James Christie, Tickler, different places. 
William Smith, New- York. 
Robert Willet, Portland, man of war, knee. 
Slightly zoounded. 
Greenlow, Virginia, different places. 
Ephraim Lincoln, Boston, Argus, by the bayonet. 
James Newman, Baltimore, impressed, by the 

bayonet. 
Alexander Peterson, N. York, Erin, Boston, by 

the bayonet. 
Joseph Music, Charleston, S. C. impressed, by 

the bayonet. 
John WHlet, Philadelphia, by the bayonet. 
Joseph Hindil, Philadelphia, Young Wasp, in the 

hand. 
Perry Richardson, Bath, Maine, Rolla, by tin 

bayonet. 
John Cowcn, Teezer, by the bayonet. 



189 

James Barker, "VViscasset, Elbridge Gerry, by the 

bayonet. 
James Weclgewood, Portsmouth, N. H. Lark, 

in the head. 
James Mathews, Delaware, by the bayonet. 
John Murray, New- York, by the bayonet. 
William Marshal, Lawrence, by the bayonet. 
Thomas Johnson, Albany, Criterion, by the bayo- 
net. 

The list of killed and wounded contains all that 
could be ascertained at that time, but great sus- 
picions remained among the prisoners thai more 
had been killed, than were certainly known, as 
some were missing, and not to be found among 
the living, or the dead ; it was supposed that 
these had been killed, and being mangled in a 
most shocking manner, were privately taken away 
by Capt. Shortland, and buried that night, before 
doctor Magrath entered the yard, and a report 
prevailed that he had done it : as great numbers 
who were slightly wounded did not go to the hos- 
pital, I, to ascertaimthe exact number of killed and 
wounded, took the list of those in the hospital, 
from the- doctor's books, and every prison muster- 
ed all those that refused going to the hospital, by 
which means the list can be depended on as strict- 
ly correct, 

R 



190 

At twelve o'clock, at noon, on the eighth, a ju- 
ry of inquest arrived, composed of twelve farmers, 
an J a coroner, and sat over the bodies of our mur- 
dered countrymen ; they began to take the de- 
positions of the prisoners and turnkeys, and pro- 
ceeded on till seven in the evening, and adjourned 
till next morning. 

The evidence of the prisoners corresponded 
with the statement in a preceding page. 

On the morning of the ninth, the dead not yet 
being buried, the jury sat over them again, and 
proceeded on with the evidence on both sides, 
which consisted of Dr. Magrath, whose evidence 
was against Shortland, prisoners, turnkeys, sol- 
dier-ofhcers, soldiers, kc. 

The summary of the evidence I shall give pre- 
sently 5 but I must here digress a little to give 
some circumstances that intervened betwixt the 
taking of the depositions, and the verdict of the 

J UI T- 

This morning an order arrived for the discharge 

of thirty-four prisoners,, who had applied to be rc^ 

leaded to man ships in different parts of Europe. 

During the eighth and ninth, the prisoners made 

every inquiry in their power to learn whether 

any were missing, who were not included among 

the dead, wounded, or discharged; but nothing 

satisfactory could be obtained, but only a report 



191 

lliat after the prisons were closed, Capt. Shorthand 
had secretly buried some of the most mangled 
bodies, before Dr. Magrath entered, as he is a 
man of integrity, feeling, candour, firmness, and 
unshaken veracity, as well as genius and skill, 
that no favour or affection could swerve from the 
truth. Shortland would therefore endeavour to 
conceal as much as possible from him, as what- 
ever came within his knowledge, came out with- 
out fear or reward, and was much against 
the conduct of Capt. Shortland. On the morning 
of the seventh, as before mentioned, we ascertain- 
ed by the testimony of those persons whose names 
are mentioned in the certificate to this work, the 
particulars of the killed and wounded, whose 
names have been already mentioned, the number 
of which and their situation, were as follows. 

Seven were killed dead in the yards, and in the 
prisons. Six suffered amputation of a leg or an 
arm. Thirty-eight dangerously wounded and 
many supposed to be mortal by the surgeon of 
the depot. Twelve slightly wounded. The total 
amount of killed and wounded sixty-three. Among 
these were many mangled in the mosthor rid man- 
ner, having received five, six, and seven wounds 
apiece from thq bayonet. Hundreds of the pris- 
oners very narrowly escaped, having received 
several shots through the hats and clothes. 



192 

We have just discovered that the soldiers here 
at present are the Somersetshire militia ; and 
the garrison consists of fifteen-hundred soldiers of 
different military classes^ 

On the evening of the ninth, the inquest, consis- 
ting of twelve peasants, dependants of Capt. Short- 
land, delivered in this most extraordinary and un- 
just verdict, of Justifiable Homicide ; such a ver- 
dict astonished every person, who was not parti- 
reps crimims. This verdict seems to have been 
given against evidence ; a summary of which on 
both sides I shall now proceed to give the reader, 
that he may judge for himself. It appeared from 
the different witnesses before mentioned, that the 
hole made in the wall, was unknown to more than 
three-fourths of the prisoners confined in the yard 
of No. 5 and 7, where the hole was made, and that 
no combination had ever been entered into by any 
of the prisoners to escape ; it was also proved 
that the prisoners confined in the yards of No. 1 , 
3 and 4, were totally ignorant of there being any 
hole in the wall. It was proved that the gates 
were broken open by a man in the state of intoxica- 
tion, and unknown to the prisoners, and that when 
broken open it was in the power of the sentery to 
have taken the offender and confined him without 
any resistance of the prisoners. It was also pro- 
ved that, they came running to the gate out of cu- 



193 

c'.osity, to learn the occasion of the alarm bells 
r i .',ing ; that the few persons (who were not above 
fifty,) flocked into the square, were carried out of 
the gates by the numbers pressing in the rear to 
gratify their curiosity ; that no stones or clubs 
were thrown while they were in this situation ; 
that they all immediately retired into the yards 
of their respective prisons, and shut the gates 
after them ; that Capt. Shortland took the imme- 
diate command of the soldiers, and ordered them 
to fire on the prisoners ; that on firing the prison- 
ers made all possible exertion to gain the inside 
of the prison, but some fell before they could reach 
it ; that the soldiers pursued and fired into 
the prisons and killed two within the prison ; that 
the soldiers en the ramparts singled out the pri- 
soners, and fired and killed them, as they were 
going into the prisons ; that after all the prisoners 
had got into the prisons, except some few, being 
frightened, and not able to get into the prisons, 
ran for refuse close to the walls, and were fired 
upon singly, and either killed or wounded by seve- 
ral soldiers firing at one. That an officer of low 
rank assisted under the command of Capt. Short- 
land, in killing a boy, not over thirteen years old ' 
that a prisoner, applied to Capt. Shortland to 
forbear, and stop the horrid massacre, as the pri- 
soners were retiring as fast as possible, and that 

R 2 



194 

Capt. Shortland "answered. " retire, you damned 
rascal. I'll hear to nothing." It was proved that 
the turnkeys, contrary to the invariable custom, 
had been in and locked all the doors of each pri- 
son, except one ; there being four doors to each 
prison, they had ever before been left open, till a 
horn was sounded, and the turnkeys cried " turn - 
in, turn in ;" but that night no horn was sounded, 
aor was there any cry to turn in, but the doors 
secretly locked, which much surprised the few 
that happened to see the doors locked, but did not 
suspect any mischief was about to be done; that 
this was done some time before the usual hour for 
turning in. Also, that Capt. Shortland actually 
took hold of a musket with his own hands in con- 
junction with a soldier, and fired the first gun. 
That the soldier-officers^ were unwilling to give 
any orders to the soldiers, or take any active part 
in the proceedings. 

From the summary of the evidence above given. 
on the part of the prisoners, it must appear evi- 
dent to every impartial reader, that Capt. Short- 
land'madc the attack with malice prepense. But 
to give the'public the fairest opportunity to judge, 
I shall give a summary of the eviclen e on the 
part of Capt. Shortland, which came all from the 
mouth of witnesses particcps criminis, and acting 
with him. Those consisted of clerks, turnkeys, 



195 



and soldiers, who had been the very instruments 
of the massacre. They deposed and said, that 
the prisoners were in a state of mutiny, and that. 
great numbers had threatened to escape by for- 
cing through the walls, and that the bole in the 
wall was big enough for a man to pass through ; 
that the lock on the gate was broke by some pri- 
soner, and that stones were thrown while the 
prisoners were at the gate, and also clubs, and 
pieces of iron thrown at the guards by the pri- 
soners while there ; that great numbers had got 
into the square, and that they did mean to make 
their escape. Nothing material could be Further 
drawn from these witnesses. s 

In the evening of this day, the bodies of our mur- 
dered countrymen were buried behind the prison 
walls in the same manner as before the peace, 
without form or ceremony, and no prisoner per- 
mitted to attend to see the last sad office, which 
one friend can perform for another in giving the 
grave its due. O ! Britannia ; thy boast is gene, 
thy pride is lost, humanity is fled from thy degene- 
rate sons, and a safer asylum in the bosom of the 
savage tribes, has found. Deny the dead theip 
sacred due i 

Thou ingrate race, is this the reward due to 
men who have laboured many years thy faithful 
servant, and now alter having dragged out a pain- 



196 

ful imprisonment for two years, arid the moment 
t'ae hope of returning had rekindled the sparks of 
life, must be massacred in a most barbarous man- 
ner, and denied the right of the grave ? 

I must here relate one instance which occurred 
a few years ago, and which goes very far to show 
the inhumanity of those who have had the com- 
mand of this depot heretofore. In a manuscript 
which was left here by the French prisoners. 
which I was this evening perusing, I find the 
following remarkable cireumstanee of cruelty re- 
lated, which took place daring their confinement. 

Captain Cotgrave being a<ent, and Dr. Decker 
head surgeon of the Hospital, in December, one 
thousand eight hundred and nine, a most malignant 
and contagious disease, bearing the most frightful 
and mortal symptoms, broke out among the French 
prisoners, which in the short space of one month 
carried off more than eight hundred. 

This unfeeling man, Dr. Decker, caused the 
cciTnis to be brought into the rooms of the Hospi- 
tal, to receive the bodies : where they often re- 
mained several days in readiness to receive the 
unhapj y man fast approaching the end of all his 
sufferings. 

It is said in the manuscript, that this worse than 
barbarian, w >ukl gaze with the greatest satisfac- 
tion on the surrounding victims, that he might dis- 



107 

cover from the very inmost recesses of the heart, 
what effect the appearance of these coffins had on 
their exhausted spirits. 

However unfeeling this might be, yet their lot 
was envied by hundreds of their countrymen, who 
were left to perish in the prison without any as- 
sistance, without a friend, and in Want of every 
thing ; and would not be received into the Hospi- 
tal by this unfeeling man. 

Their extreme sufferings would have moved the 
heart even of a cannibal, and it is a solitary in- 
stance of cruelty, that any one belonging to a civi- 
lized nation could rejoice at such a mournful spec- 
tacle, and exult over their fellow-beings in the ago- 
nies of death, as did this man often in saying the 
more deaths the fewer enemies. 

Another circumstance is related in the same ma- 
nuscript, in which Capt. Isaac Cotgrave was the 
principal actor. 

On the eighth of October, one thousand eight 
hundred and nine, the turnkeys, by mistake, had 
left one of the prison doors unlocked, which be- 
ing discovered by some of the prisoners, they de- 
termined if possible to effect an escape ; they got 
into the yard, but unfortunately were discovered 
the very moment they came out, by one of the 
senteries, who gave the alarm, and instantly a vol- 
ley of sixty muskets was discharged at them 5 



198 



numbers were wounded, but none killed ; they theu 
stiiy retired into the prison. 

Capt. Cctgrave, the agent, then entered the 
yard at the head of a large body of troops, and 
after searching the yard in every direction, and 
discovering nobody, he was retiring, when they 
discovered a man creeping along the wall ; the 
blood-thirsty monsters instantly fell upon the un- 
happy victim, and would neither listen to his cries 
nor prayers, but before he could make himself 
known to them, several musket-balls had pierced 
his vital parts, and laid him lifeless on the ground j 
but they were not content with this ; they ran up 
to him, and ran over and over his lifeless corpse, 
stabbing it with their bayonets in many places ; 
after having satiated their ferocity, on inspecting 
the body, they found it to be one of their own men, 
whom the darkness of the night had prevented 
them from distinguishing. 

In memory of this horrid act, the French priso- 
ners raised a monument on the very spot where it 
was committed ; but the keepers of the prison had 
it destroyed the samf day, for it was a monument 
6f their cruelty. 



199 



THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF 
PRISONERS. 

We$.-the undersigned, being each severally sworn 
>n the holy evangelists of the Almighty God, for 
he investigation of the circumstances attending 
he late horrid massacre, and having heard the 
lepositions of a great number of witnesses : from 
)ur own personal knowledge, and from the depo- 
iitions given in as aforesaid, 

REPORT AS FOLLOWS : 

That on the 6th of April, about 6 o'clock in the 
evening, when the prisoners were all quiet in their 
•espectivc yards, it being about the usual time of 
u ruing in for the night, and the greater part of the 
prisoners being then in the prisons, the alarm bell 
vvas rung, and many of the prisoners ran up to 
die Market-square to learn the occasion of the 
ilarm. There were then drawn up in the Square, 
several hundred soldiers, with Captain Shortland 
[the Agent] at their head ; it was likewise obser- 
ved at the same time, that additional numbers cf 
soldiers were posting themselves on the wails 
round the prison yards. One of them observed to 
the prisoners, that they had better go into the 
prisons, for they would be charged upon directly. 



20d 

This, of course, occasioned considerable alarm 
among them. In this moment of uncertainty, they 
were running in different directions inquiring the 
cause of the alarm — some toward their respective 
prisons, and some toward the Market-square. — 
When about one hundred were collected in the 
Square, Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to 
charge upon them, which order the soldiers were 
reluctant in obeying, as the prisoners were using 
no violence ; but on the order being repeated, 
they made a charge, and the prisoners retreated 
out of the Square into the prison-yards, and shut 
the gates after them. Captain Shortland, himself, 
opened the gates, and ordered the soldiers to fire 
in among the prisoners, who were all retreating in 
different directions towards their respective pris- 
ons. It appears there was some hesitation in the 
minds of the officers, whether or not it was proper 
to fire upon the prisoners in that situation ; on 
which Shortland seized a musket out of the hands 
of a soldier, which he fired. Immediately after, 
the fire became general, and many of the prisoners 
were either killed or wounded. The remainder 
were endeavouring to get into the prisons, when 
going towards the lower doors, the soldiers on the 
walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, 
which killed some and wounded others. 4lter 
much difficulty, [all the doors being closed in the 



20 i 

entrance, but one in each prison] the survivors 
succeeded in gaining the prisons ; immediately af- 
ter which, parties of soldiers came to the doors of 
Nos. 3 and 4 prisons, and fired several voliies into 
them through the windows and doors, which killed 
one man in each prison, and severely wounded 
others. 

It likewise appears, that the preceding butchery 
was followed up with a disposition of peculiar in- 
veteracy and barbarity. 

One man who was severely wounded in No. 7 
prison-yard, and being unable to make his way to 
the prison, was come up with by the soldiers, 
whom, he implored for mercy, but in vain ; five of 
the hardened wretches immediately levelled their 
pieces at him, and shot him dead on the spot. — - 
Tiie soldiers who were posted on the walls, mani- 
fested equal cruelty, by keeping up a constant fire 
on every prisoner they could see in the yards en- 
deavouring to get in the prison, when their num- 
bers were very few, and when not the least shadow 
of resistance could be made or expected. Several 
of them had got into No. 6 prison cook-house, 
which was pointed out by the soldiers on the walls, 
to those who were marching in from the Square; 
they immediately went up and fired into the same, 
which wounded several ; one of the prisoners ran 

S 



202 

•ut with the intention of gaining his prison, but was 
killed before he reached the door. 

On an impartial consideration of the circum- 
stances of the case, we are induced to believe that 
it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of Cap- 
tain Shortland, for reasons which we will now pro- 
ceed to give — as an illucidation of its origin, we 
will recur back to an event which happened some 
days previous. Captain Shortland was, at the 
time, absent at Plymouth, but before going he or- 
dered the contractor or his clerk to serve out one 
pound of indifferent hard bread, instead of one 
pound and an half of soft bread, their usual al- 
lowance — this the prisoners refused to receive — 
they waited all day in expectation of their usual 
allowance being served out ; but at sunset, finding 
this would not be the case, burst open the lower 
gates, and went up to the store, demanding to hav^ 
their bread. 

The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, 
and informed of their proceedings, observed, that 
it was no more than right the prisoners should have 
their usual allowance, and strongly reprobated the 
conduct of Captain Shortland in withholding it 
from them. They were accordingly served with" 
their bread, and quietly returned to their prison. 
This circumstance, with the censures that were 



203 

thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Short- 
land on his return home, and he must then have de- 
termined on the diabolical plan of seizing the first 
slight pretext to turn in the military, to butcher 
the prisoners for the gratification of his malice and 
revenge. It unfortunately happened, that in the 
afternoon of the 6th of April, some boys who were 
playing ball in No. 7 yard, knocked their ball over 
into the Barrack-yard, and on the sentery in that 
yard refusing to throw it back to them, they picked 
a. hole in the wall to get in after it. 

This afforded Shortland his wished for pretext, 
and he took his measures accordingly ; he had all 
the garrison drawn up in the military walk, addi^ 
tional numbers posted on the walls, and every thing- 
ready prepared before the alarm bell was rung ; 
this, he natarally concluded, would draw the atten- 
tion of a great number of prisoners towards the 
gates, to learn the cause of the alarm, while the 
turnkeys were despatched into the yards, to lock 
all the doors but one of each prison, to prevent 
the prisoners retreating out of the way before he 
had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance. 

What adds peculiar weight to the belief of its 
being a premeditated, determined massacre, are. 

First — The sanguinary disposition manifested 
&n every occasion by Shortland, he having, prior 



204 

to this time, ordered the soldiers to fire into the 
prisons, through the prison windows, upon unarm- 
ed prisoners asleep in their hammocks, on account 
of a light being seen in the prisons ; which barba- 
rous act was repeated several nights successively. 
That murder was not then committed, was owing 
to an over-ruling Providence alone ; for the balls 
were picked up in the prison, where they passed 
Through the hammocks of men then asleep in them. 
He having also ordered the soldiers to fire" upon 
the prisoners in the yard of No. 7 prison, because 
they would not deliver up to him a man wdio had 
escaped from the cachot, which order the com- 
manding officer of the soldiers refused to obey ; 
and generally, he having seized on every slight 
pretext to injure the prisoners, by stopping their 
marketing for ten days repeatedly, and once a third 
part of their provisions for the same length of 
time. 

Secondly — He having been heard to say, when 
the boys had picked the hole in the wall, and some 
time before the alarm bell rung, while all the priso- 
ners were quiet as usual in their respective yards, 
u Pll fix the daniWd rascals directly." 

Thirdly — His having all the soldiers on their 
posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the 



205 



alarm bell rung. It could not then, of course, be 
rung to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm the 
prisoners, and create confusion among them. 

Fourthly — The soldiers upon the wall, previous 
to the alarm bell being rung, informing the priso- 
ners that they would be charged upon directly. 

Fifthly — The turnkeys going into the yards and 
closing all the doors but one in each prison, while 
the attention of the prisoners was attracted by the 
alarm bell. This was done about lifteen minutes 
sooner than usual, and without informing the priso- 
ners it was time to shut up. It was ever the in- 
variable practice of the turnkeys, from which they 
never deviated before that night, when coming in- 
to the yard to shut up, to hollow to the prisoners 
so loud as to be heard throughout the yards, " tarn 
in, turn in!' but, on that night, it was done so 
secretly, that not one man in a hundred knew they 
were shut ; and in particular their shutting the 
door of No. 7 prison, which the prisoners usually 
went in and out at, [and which was formerly always 
closed last] and leaving one open in the other end 
of the prison, which was exposed to a cross-fire 
from the soldiers on the walls, and which the priso- 
ners had to pass in gaining the prisons. 

S 2 



206 

We here solemnly aver, that there was no pre- 
concerted plan to attempt breaking out. There 
cannot be produced the least shadow of a reason 
or inducement for that intention, the prisoners dai- 
ly expecting to be released, and to embark on 
board cartels for their native country. And we 
likewise solemnly assert, that there was no inten- 
tion of resisting, in any manner, the authority of 
this depot. 

N. B. Seven were killed, thirty dangerously 
wounded, and thirty slightly do. Total, sixty- 
-even killed and wounded. 

fSigned) 

WM. B. ORNE, 
WM. HOBART, 
JAMES BOGGS, 
JAMES ADAMS, 
FRANCIS JOSEPH, 
JOHN F. TROBR1DGE, 
JOHN RUST, 
HENRY ALLEN, 
WALTER COLTON, 
THOMAS B. MOTT, 

Dartmoor Prison. April llh. 1815. 



Committee. 



207 

The same day Mr. Tngraham came to the prison 
and informed the prisoners, that he had come for 
the purpose of shipping a number of men, to man 
ships now lying in different ports in Europe ; he 
also informed us, that he had been appointed agent, 
under the consular agent of the United States ; 
and that every preparation was making for the 
immediate release of every prisoner, and we might 
be assured of the immediate arrival of the ships 
from London to convey us to the United States. 

On the tenth, a number were discharged to man 
different ships in Europe ; this day arrangements 
weic made by the prisoners, for the assistance end 
relief of our wounded countrymen in the Hopital, 
and also an arrangement for the prisoners to wear 
crape on their arm, for thirty days after their ar. 
rival in America, as a tribute of respect due to 
their departed friends and fellow-prisoners. — ■ 
The wounded in the Hospital were paid every at- 
tention, for their comfort and speedy recovery, by 
Doctor Magrath. 

We received no letters from Mr. Beasley, al- 
though hundreds of letters had been sent to him 
since the melancholy event of the 6th. Reports 
were circulating that a new agent was to be ap- 
pointed by the U. States to supersede Mr. Beas- 
ley, which every man most anxiously wi*hed 
might be true, but had not the satisfaction to learn 



208 

it was the case ; every day's delay made more 
confusion and anxiety among the prisoners. The 
weather during this month up to the present day. 
had been remarkable fine, pure and healthy, and 
more so than it had been at this place since our 
confinement ; as if the All-Seeing eye of Heaven 
looked down with pity and compassion upon our 
injured and wounded countrymen, and dispensed 
His blessings for their speedy recovery in the 
salubrity of his air. That passage in Holy Writ, 
in this instance seemed to be remarkably verified, 
-''• that when the prisoner was sick in prison, he 
visited him.*' 

Capt. Shortland, after being acquitted, resum- 
ed the command of the depot, but he was seldom 
seen by the prisoners, being very apprehensive 
that the prisoners would shoot him the first oppor- 
tunity ; therefore he kept a body guard about him, 
and this day a draft of thirty prisoners being dis- 
charged, and having to pass by his house, he had 
his guard stationed at his door. 

On the morning of the twelfth, we were inform- 
ed by Capt. Shortland that the drafts for the dis- 
charge of the prisoners were already made out, 
and that the draft for the first cartel would con- 
sist of 280, to be discharged as they entered this 
depot. I therefore obtained the exact number of 



209 

prisoners then in each prison, which I shall give 
as follows : 

Prison No. 1, contained - - 1290 

3, - - -..'- 952 

4, - - - . - 978 

5, - - - - 93S 
7, 1248 

In different employments about the 

stores and hospital, 29 

Patients in the hospital, - - 107 

Total number of unparoled prison- 

ers in England, - - - 5542 

In visiting the hospitals, I found the wounded 
prisoners fast recovering, all in high spirits, the 
prison generally more healthy than it had been 
since our arrival at it. Capt. Shortland removed 
his family from this place, for his guilt had brought 
upon him the apprehension of the first draft's re- 
taliating upon him by attacking his family ; but 
no such idea had entered the imagination of any 
prisoner ; it was the creature of his own guilt. 

We were ordered at this time to be in readiness 
to deliver up every article, which we had receiv- 
ed from the British Government ; such as beds, 
hammocks, blankets, &c. &c. These articles had 
been. in our possession, and in constant use ever 
since the second of April, 1813, and had never 
been changed: we felt but little reluctance in de- 



210 

iivering them up, when animated with the idea of 
once more revisiting our native country, and leav- 
ing a dreary prison, which many of us had inhabi- 
ted upwards of two years. 

On the following day we received a London pa- 
per which contained the following account of the 
late horrid massacre at this depot ; it read as 
follows : 

" An affair of a serious nature has recentlv ta- 
ken place at Dartmoor prison : the prisoners at- 
taching the greater part of the fault of their long 
detention since the peace to Mr. Beasley, their 
country's agent, resident at London, had, before 
the affray, burnt his person in effigy in the yard 
of their prison; on account of which, Captain 
Shortland, unarmed and unattended, entered the 
yard of their prison with a view to appease the 
anger of these unfortunate men ; but his recep- 
tion was attended with the prisoners discharging a 
pistol at him, the contents of which grazed his 
clerk ; upon this the prisoners attempted to gain 
their liberty by rushing out of the gates, but were 
soon coiled by the guards firing upon them, and 
killing twelve, and wounding thirty." 

The account was equally base and false, as the 

act was cruel and murderous ; but the mention of 

twelve killed, confirmed the prisoners in their be- 

ief that this number had been lulled, and the five 



211 

yhich were not to be found, were secretly burierl 
)y Capt. Shortland that night, and that he, in the 
guilty and confused state of his mind, had given 
in account of twelve, instead of seven, which 
vere the only ones found of the killed. I leave 
t to the reader to judge, whether nature or habit 
lad done most towards hardening the feelings of 
;his man. It is well known that men accustomed 
;o the sufferings and misery of their fellow beings, 
soon grow hardened and forget them. But could 
.his man, from the short time here, have grown 
so callous in his feelings as to commit such acts 
Tom habit, or must, cruelty and malice have been 
woven in his constitution ? 

On this day, the prisoners in making prepara- 
tion for their departure, prepared a large white 
flag, and as a memento, had, in the middle of it, 
the representation of a tomb, with the Goddess of 
Liberty leaning on it, and a murdered sailor lying 
by its side, and an inscription over it in large capi- 
tal letters, "Columbia weeps, and we remember." 
This flag was intended to be carried home to the 
U. States, as it showed a just resentment for the 
execrable deeds which it recorded, and a just re- 
spect for the sufferers. This same day, numbers 
of prisoners were released by application of their 
friends in England, for the purpose of manning 
ships in different ports. We had no news from 



212 

Mr. Beasley, and most of the prisoners barefoot- 
ed, the oldest in a state of nudity, not having re- 
ceived any jackets or trowsers for more than 
eleven months. 

At length, when we were almost dead with im- 
patience and delay, on the fourteenth we received 
a letter from Mr. Beasley to the following effect : 
" Fellow Citizens, 

" I have been informed that numbers of the 
prisoners have entertained an idea, that they are 
to remain in prison, until the arrival of some U. 
States' ships in this country ; but I can assure 
them that there is no foundation for the belief; 
and I can assure them of eight cartels being al- 
ready taken up for their conveyance to the Uni- 
ted States. And with regret I hear from officers 
who were sent to inquire into the shameful con- 
duct of the sixth of April, that the extravagant 
excess of the prisoners was partly occasioned by 
their censuring the 13. States and myself!" 

Mr. Beasley had, no doubt, been informed of 
what he wrote, but it was not the fact, for his infor- 
mation, no doubt, came from the two officers who 
were here, the Admiral and his associate ; but no 
such conversation took place in their hearing 
which number's of the most respectable prisoners 
can testi . 1 no such idea had been entertained 

by any prisoner m the prison. These officers in 



213 

tended that Mr. Beasley should bear all the 
blame. God knows his conduct was blameable 
enough throughout ; but to do him justice, he Lad 
no blame in the murderous act of the fatal sixth 
of April. His effigy had been burnt on the 24th 
of March, and all animosity had been dissipated 
with the ashes of his effigy, and his name seemed 
to be forgotten, for it was scarcely ever mention- 
ed. Mr. Beasley had had every particular of the 
event, before his interview with the officers, but 
made no exertions as yet to inquire into the af- 
fray. 

The weather up to this day since the month be- 
gan, had been remarkably fine for this place, but 
this morning the moor as far as the eye could 
reach, was covered with snow, and continued to 
snow all day, and the weather very cold. 

On the sixteenth we received letters from Lon- 
don, from many of our fellow citizens, who had 
received passports and left the prison since the 
fatal sixth of April 5 on their arrival in London, 
they were taken before the lord mayor of that city 
and their depositions taken relative to the massacre 
of the sixth, which was to the same purport as be- 
fore the committee. On the same clay, Col. Haw- 
ker, formerly consular agent, under the American 
consul at London, visited the prison for the pur- 
pose of shipping seamen to man ships at Plymouth* 

T 



214 

bound to New-Orleans. In this way the pri- 
soners were daily diminishing in number, as any 
one might obtain a passport who could procure a 
friend to make application for their release, and 
informing Mr. Beasley that they required no assis- 
tance from him to convey them to the United 
States. In obtaining a passport in this way from 
Capt. Shortland, they needed no other protection 
in this country. 

This day a man was committed to the cachot 
for drawing money from Col. Hawker in an as- 
mimed name. The colonel was determined to 
have him brought to condign punishment: this man 
the next day was taken out of the cachot and con- 
veyed to Exeter, to be tried at the next August 
assizes. 

On visiting the hospital, I found the wounded 
and the sick fast recovering, and had every atten- 
tion paid them by Dr. Magrath, for their health 
and comfort, that his resources would allow. 

On the seventeenth, a black man belonging to 
No. 4 was found dead in his hammock. On this 
day Ave received another letter from Mr^ Beasley, 
which informed us that those officers that had visi- 
ted the prison by order of the British government, 
had represented the conduct of the prisoners on 
the sixth of April, in a very unfavourable light, 
Ituthavm ■> received a correct statement from the 



215 

prison, and a general summary of the evidence ©n 
both sides as delivered in to the jury of inquest ; 
he now apologized for his last letter. 

On the nineteenth, at four o'clock in the after- 
noon, an express arrived informing Capt. Short- 
land that one cartel had arrived at Plymouth, and 
ordered hun immediately to remove two-hundred 
an I forty-nine prisoners from this depot to that 
place, for embarking on board die ship. At five 
in the afternoon, the whole draft was collected in 
the square, with all their baggage. This was the 
first draft of prisoners that had entered the prison 
after the declaration of war, and had been im- 
mured within these gloomy walls more than two 
long and tedious years. They were then infor- 
med that one baggage wagon would- be allowed 
to every hundred men, for the conveyance of their 
baggage to Plymouth. 

The prisoners being the greater part bare- 
footed, made inquiry whether any arrangement 
had been made by Mr. Beasley for providing 
them with shoes and clothes, as they were much 
in want of them ; but were much surprised and 
disappointed when they found no provision had 
been made. The money due from government 
had run over the usual time of payment, now twen- 
ty-five days, although application had previously 
been made for the payment of the daily allowance, 
and also, the other articles, both by the prisoners 



210 

and Capt. Shortland himself; but Mr. Beasley still 
neglected to make any arrangement for either. 

At six every prisoner's name was called, and 
fchey committed together with their baggage to a 
separate prison, ready for their departure the 
next morning. The joy they felt on this occasion 
is better imagined than described ; I therefore 
leave to the imagination of the reader, what emo- 
tions the heart must feel, when a change which 
promised every endearment of life to them, and. 
treed them from every evil of it, was about to 
lake place. 

I visited the hospital this evening for the last 
ume, and had the pleasing satisfaction of finding 
the sick and wounded in a state of fast recovery, 
except a few who were dangerous. 

The next morning we took our departure for 
Plymouth, and with joy in our hearts bid farewell 
to that pale of misery, and at four in the afternoon 
arrived at Plymouth, having travelled all the way 
under the direction of a strong guard. 

We were immediately embarked on board the 
cartel Maria Christiana, a Swedish ship, com- 
manded by Capt. Dirkes ; we found some few of 
our countrymen who had been on parole, on board 
the ship. 

It was now just forty days since the arrival of 

■ ratified treaty in England. 



217 

The next day eight of the prisoners left the car- 
tel to join a brig under French colours bound for 
France. 

On the twenty-second the wind being contrary, 
the prisoners were permitted to go on shore and 
spend the day. A court of inquiry had been in- 
stituted by commissioners appointed by both go- 
vernments, for the investigation of the unfortunate 
occurrences of the sixth of April, and was then sit- 
ting for that purpose. Several of the prisoners 
were called upon to give evidence in the cause, and 
their depositions taken by the court that day. 

The court was attended by Mr. Williams, depu- 
ty consular agent to Mr. Beasley. 

Before we set sail Mr. Williams informed us that 
he was instructed by Mr. Beasley to take down all 
the particulars of the investigation, for the purpose 
of laying them before the American government ; 
but the commissioners had not reported when we 
left Plymouth, bai it was expected they would in a 
few days, which shall contain a part of this work 
as soon as it is receive.!. 

Mr. Wdhams informed us that the money allow- 
ed by government, which had been due thirty days, 
would not be pa*:! by Mr. Beasley, nor would any 
provision be made by hm for shoes or clothing, 
but that the prisoners must go home as ihey were. 

T 2 



218 

On the twenty-third, the wind being favourable, 
we hove short, and made preparations for sailing. 

On mustering the prisoners, we found their num- 
ber amounted to two hundred and sixty-three ; this 
increase of number was by officers paroled at Ash- 
burton. 

At three in the afternoon, we left the port of 
Plymouth, with a fresh and favourable wind. 

We had left behind at Dartmoor five thousand 
one hundred and ninety three of our fellow priso- 
ners, whom the agent informed us would be con- 
veyed to this place in the same manner as our- 
selves in a few days, as the other cartels were on 
their way round to Plymouth, and thence to cm- 
bark immediately for the United States. After 
leaving Plymouth we found the provisions under 
the direction of Capt. Turner, appointed by the 
agent to dcz\ out the rations to the prisoners. 

We were allowed, kve days in the week, one 
pound of salt beef, one pound of bread, half a 
pound of potatoes a day ; the other t>o days one 
pound of pork, the same quantity of bread, and 
half a pint of peas per man, and half a pint of vine- 
gar a week. 

Mr. Beasley had made arrangements for each 
prisoner to have a small bed and blanket ; the 
cartel was equipped according to custom, with 
great guns and small arms. 



2)9 

A Physician had been appointed with a suffi- 
cient quantity of medicine to serve during the pas- 
sage. 

One part of the ship was allotted to the sick, 
where every att tiofl was paid them by their 
countrymen for the; comfort and convenience. 

During the residue pf the month nothing mate- 
rial occurred; the ca ■■■■■■[ quite health., only five 
cases of sick, and them net very dangerous ; the 
month ended with winds, light and unfavourable. 

On the first of May We \. i-re in lat. 45° North, 
and longitude 23° 4 1 ' West. On the second, being 
in long. 24°, we spoke a brig from London bound 
to Quebec. 

From the first to the fourteenth the winds were 
from N. W. to S. W. Stnd the cartel kept between 
the latitudes of 42° and 44° North. 

Some few sick, but not dangerously. On this 
day we discovered a sail on our weather beam, 
standing to the eastward ; at 2 P. M. she bore up 
and stood for the cartel, with a British flag flying ; 
at four we spoke her in lat. 42, and long. 38. 
She proved to be a British transport with a num- 
ber of troops from Mobile, bound to England, and 
fourteen days from Bermuda. She sent her boat 
along-side the cartel with a naval and military of- 
ficer, and the captain of the transport ; they came on 
board the cartel and remained for an hour, and then 



220 

returned to the transport, and each ship made sail 
for their destined places* 

The win Is still continued the same way the 
twenty-eighth. This day, Sunday, we fell in w T ith 
several large islands of Ice, lat. 43° ; on the same 
day, lat. 42° long. 60°, we spoke the brig Sally Bar- 
ker, six days from Boston, bound for Portugal : the 
three days following the winds continuing light, 
from the South and West, we spoke a brig from 
Portland four days out, bound to Surinam. 

Cartel perfectly healthy with the exception of 
one man very low in a consumption. 

On the first of June, lat. 40, 50, long. 64, spoke 
the ship Helvitius of Philadelphia, bound home, 
after remaining during the whole war up the east 
country. On the second of June, lat. 40, 35, 
long. 69, the majority of the prisoners agreed to 
take possession of the cartel, and run her into 
New- York, for the following reasons : the ship be- 
ing disabled by the loss of her main trussel-trees, 
which endangered the top-mast, and rendered her 
unfit for sea ; secondly, there being every appear- 
ance of a gale from the S. W. and the weather 
thick and hazy ; thirdly, the port of N. York be- 
ing the most convenient for the greater part of 
the prisoners ; for which reasons, at twelve meri- 
dian, by the general voice of all on board, the 
command was taken from her former captain, and 



221 

she directed for the port of N. York. At 4, P. M. 
the man in a consumption " put oif this mortal 
coil," and took his quietus in thirty-five fathom of 
water, in the usual form at sea. 

The captain of the ship required some docu- 
ment, that he might show for his indemniiication 
for resigning the command of the ship, and devia- 
ting from his destined port, which was Norfolk, 
Vir. ; the following certificate, signed by a great 
number of the prisoners, was delivered him. 
Certificate, 

" We, the undersigned, citizens of the U. States 
of America, do hereby certify, that on the second 
day of June, 1315, at twelve meridian, being in 
fat. 40, 30, long. 69, 30, by mutual agreement of 
a majority of prisoners now on board the cartel 
Maria Christiana, bound for Norfolk, did take 
possession of her, and directed her for the port of 

New- York." , 

At four o'clock on the third, we discovered the 
highlands of N. Jersey bearing W. by S.-, at eight 
made the light-house, distance three or lour 
leagues ; at two P. M. obtained a pilot ana stood 
within the Hook ■ at seven came to an anchor ; the 
next morning arrived at New-York. 

Having received the report of the commission- 
ers since our arrival in the United States, we shall 
eive it to the reader verbatim. The reader will 



222 

perceive that it differs somewhat from the account 
of the massacre which I have given before, and 
that of the committee of prisoners. The public 
are to judge of the report 5 the facts seem not to 
warrant just such an one ; but to give my simple 
opinion as an individual, I believe that the com- 
missioners through a sort of piafraus for the love 
of peace and harmony between the two govern- 
ments, have made it a vail of amnesty, and a pre- 
ventative of new troubles. 

THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 

Plymouth, 26th April, 1815. 
We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed 
©n behalf of our respective governments, to in- 
quire into, and report upon, the unfortunate oc- 
currence of the 6th of April inst. at DartmooF 
prison ; having carefully perused the proceedings 
of the several courts of inquiry instituted imme- 
diately after that event, by the orders of Admiral 
Sir John T. Duckworth and Major General Brown 
respectively, as well as the depositions taken at 
the coroner's inquest upon the bodies of the pri- 
soners who lost their lives upon that melancholy 
occasion : upon which inquest the jury found a 
verdict of justifiable homicide; proceed immedi- 
ately to the examination upon oath in the presence, 
of one or more of the magistrates of the vicinity, 
of all the witnesses, both American and English, 



223 



rh 







who offered themselves for that purpose ; or w 
could be discovered as likely to afford any materi- 
al information upon the subject, as well as those 
who had been previously examined before the 
coroner, or otherwise, to the number in the whole 
of about eighty. We further proceed to a minute 
examination of the prisons, for the purpose of 
clearing up some points, which upon the evidence 
alone, were scarcely intelligible • obtaining from 
the prisoners, and from the officers of the depot, 
all the necessary assistance and explanation : and 
premising, that we have been from necessity com- 
pelled to draw many of our conclusions from 
statements and evidence highly contradictory, we 
do noAv make upon the whole proceedings the fol- 
lowing report : — 

During the period which has elapsed since the 
arrival in this country of the account of the ratifi- 
cation of the treaty of Ghent, an increased degree 
of restlessness and impatience of confinement ap- 
pears to have prevailed amongst the American 
prisoners at Dartmoor, which though not exhibi- 
ted in the shape of any violent excess, has been 
principally indicated by threats of breaking out 
if not soon released. 

On the fourth of this month in particular, only 
two days previous to the events, the subject of 
this inquiry, a large body of the prisoners rushed 



224 

into the market square, from whence, by the re- 
gulations of the prison, they are ey eluded, de- 
manding bread, instead of biscirt, which had on 
that day been issued by the officers of the depot; 
their demands, however, having been then almost 
immediately complied with, they returned to their 
own yards, and the employment of force on that 
occasion became unnecessary. 

On the evening of the sixth, about six o'clock, 
it was clearly proved to us, that a breach had 
been made in one of the prison walls, sufficient 
for a full sized man to pass, and that others had 
been commenced in the course of the day near 
the same spot, though never completed. 

That a number of the prisoners were over the 
railing erected to prevent them from communica- 
ting with the sentinels on the walls, which was of 
course forbidden by the regulations of the prison, 
and that in the space between the railing and 
those walls, they were tearing up pieces oi turf, 
and wantonly pelting each other in a noisy and 
disorderly manner. 

That a much more considerable number of the 
prisoners was collected together at that time in 
one of their yards near the place where the 
breach was effected, and that although such collec- 
tion of prisoners was not unusual at other t ies 
(the gambling tables being commonly kept in that 



S2£> 

part of the yard) yet, when connected with the 
circumstances of the breach, and the time of the 
day, which was after the hour the signal for the 
prisoners to their respective prisons had ceased to 
sound, it became a natural and just ground of 
alarm to those who had charge of the depot. 

It was also in evidence that in the building for- 
merly the petty officers' prison, but now the guard 
barrack, which stands in the yard to which the 
hole in the wall would serve as a communication, 
a part of the arms of the guard who were off duty, 
were usually kept in the racks, and though there 
was no evidence that this was in any respect the 
motive whfch induced the prisoners to make the 
opening in the wall, or even that they were ever 
acquainted with the iact, it naturally became at 
least a further cause of suspicion and alarm, and 
an additional reason for precaution. 

Upon these grounds Capt. Shortland appears 
to us to have been justified in giving the order, 
which about this time he seems to have given, to 
sound the alarm bell, the usual signal for collect- 
ing the officers of the depot and putting the milita- 
ry on the alert. 

However reasonable and justifiable this was as 
a measure of precaution, the effects produced 
thereby in the prisons, but which could not have 
been intended, were most unfortunate, and deeply 

U 



226 

to be regretted. A considerable number of the 
prisoners in the yards where no disturbances 
existed before, and who were either already 
within their respective prisons, or quietly reti- 
ring as usual towards them, immediately upon 
the sound of the bell rushed back from curiosity 
(as it appears) towards the gates, where, by that 
time, the crowd had assembled, and many who 
were at the time absent from their yards, Were 
also, from the plan of the prison, compelled, in or- 
der to reach their own homes, to pass by the same 
spot, and thus, that which was mearly a measure 
of precaution, in its operation increased the evil it 
was intended to prevent. 

Almost at the same instant that the alarm bell 
rang, (but whether before or subservient, is, upon 
the evidence, doubtful, though Capt. Shortland 
states it positively as one of his further reasons 
for causing it to ring) some one or more of the 
prisoners broke the iron chain, which was the on- 
ly fastening of No. 1 gate, leading into the market 
square, by means of an iron bar ; and a very con- 
siderable number of the prisoners immediately 
rushed towards that gate; and many of them be- 
gan to press forwards as fast as the opening would 
permit into the square. 

There was no direct proof before us of pre- 
vious concert or preparation on the part of the 



227 

prisoners ; and no evidence of their intention 6v 
disposition to effect their escape on this occasion, 
excepting that which arose by inference from the 
whole of the above detailed circumstances con- 
nected together. 

The natural and almost irresistible inference to 
be drawn, however, from the conduct of the pri- 
soners by Capt. Shorthand, and the military, was, 
that an intention on the part of the prisoners to 
escape was on the point of being carried into exe- 
cution, an 1 it was at least certain that they were 
by force passing beyond the limits prescribed to 
them, at a time when they ought to have been 
quietly going in for the night. It was also 
in evidence that the outer gates of the market 
square were usually opened about this time to let 
the bread wagon pass and repass to the store, 
although at the period in question they were in 
fact closed. 

Under these circumstances, and with these im- 
pressions necessarily operating upon his mind, 
and a knowledge that if the prisoners once pene- 
trated through the square, the power of escape 
was almost to a certainty afforded to them, if they 
should be so disposed. Capt. Shortland in the 
first instance proceeded down the square towards 
the prisoners, having ordered a part of the differ- 
ent guards, to the number of about fifty only at 



228 

first, (though they were increased afterwards,) to 
follow him. For some time both he and Dr. Ma- 
grath endeavoured, by quiet means and persua- 
sion, to induce the prisoners to retire to their own 
yards, explaining to them the fatal consequences 
which must ensue if they refused, as the milita- 
ry would in that case be necessarily compelled to 
employ force. The guard was by this time form- 
ed in the rear of Capt Shortland, about two-thirds 
of the way down the square — the latter is about 
100 feet broad, and the guard extended nearly all 
across. Capt. Shortland, finding that persuasion 
was all in vain, and that although some were indu- 
ced by it to make an effort to retire, others pre. sed 
on in considerable numbers, at last ordered about 
1 5 file of the guard, nearly in front of the gate 
which had been forced, to charge the prisoners 
back to their own yards. The prisoners were in 
some places so near the military, that one of the 
soldiers states that he could not come fairly down 
o the charge; and the military were unwilling 
to act as against an enemy. Some of the prison- 
ers also were unwilling and reluctant to retire, and 
some pushing and struggling ensued between the 
parties, arising partly from intention, but mainly 
from the pressure of these behind preventing those 
D front from getting back. After some little time, 
however, this charge appears to have been so far 



229 

elective, and that with little or no injury to the 
prisoners, as to have driven them for the most 
pari, quite down out of the square, with the excep- 
tion of a small number who continued their re- 
sistance about No. 1 gate. A great crowd still 
remained collected after this, in the passage be- 
tween the square and the prisoners' yards, and in 
the part of these yards in the vicinity of the gates. 
This assemblage still refused to withdraw, and 
according to most of the English witnesses, and 
some of the 4merican, was making a noise, hal- 
looing, insulting, and provoking, and daring the 
military to fire, and, according to the evidence 
of some of the soldiers, and some others, was 
pelting the military with large stones, by which, 
some of them were actually struck. This circum- 
stance is, however, denied by many of the Amer- 
ican witnesses ; and some of the English, upon 
having the question put to them, stated they saw 
no stones thrown previously to the firing, although 
their situation at the time was such as to enable 
them to see most of the other proceedings in the 
square. Under these circumstances the firing 
commenced. With regard to any order having 
been given to fire, the evidence is very contradic- 
tory. Several of the Americans swear positive- 
ly, that Capt. Shortland gave that order ; but the 
manner in which, from the coniusion of the ma- 
il 2 



i 



230 

ment, they describe this part of the transaction; 
is so different in its details, that it is very difficult 
to reconcile their testimony. Many of the sol- 
diers and other English witnesses, heard the word 
given by some one, but no one of them can swear 
it was by Capt. Shortland, or by any one in par- 
ticular, and some, amongst whom is the officer 
commanding the guard, think, if Capt. Shortland 
had given such an order, that they must have heard 
it, which they did not. In addition to this, Capt. 
Shortland denies the fact ; and from the situation 
in which he appears to have been placed at the- 
time, even according to the American witnesses, 
in front of the soldiers, it may appear somewhat 
improbable that he should then have given such 
an order. But, however, it may remain a matter 
of doubt whether the firing first began in the 
square by order, or was a spontaneous act of the 
soldiers themselves, it seemed clear that it was 
continued and renewed, both there and elsewhere, 
without orders ; and that on the platforms, and in 
several places about the prison, it was certainly 
commenced without any authority. The fact of 
an order having been given at first, provided the 
firing was, under the existing circumstances, jus- 
tifiable, docs not appear very material in any oth- 
er point of view than as showing a want of self- 
gossession, and discipline in the troops, if they 



231 

should have fired without order. With regard to 
the above most important consideration, of whe- 
ther the firing was justifiable or not, we are of opi- 
nion, under ail the circumstances of the case, from 
the apprehension which the soldiers might fairly 
entertain, owing to the numbers and conduct of 
the prisoners, that this firing to a certain extent, 
was justifiable in a military point of view, m or- 
der to intimidate the prisoners, and compel them 
thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and to 
retire as they were ordered, from a situation in 
which the responsibility of the agents, and the 
military, could not permit them with safety to re- 
main. From the fact of the crowd being so close, 
and the firing at first being attended with very lit- 
tle injury, it appears probable that a large propor- 
tion of the muskets were, as stated by one or two 
of the witnesses, levelled over the heads of the 
prisoners ; a circumstance in some respects to be 
lamented, as it induced them to cry out u blank 
cartridges," and merely irritated and encouraged 
them to renew their insults to the soldiery, which 
produced a repetition of the firing in a manner 
much more destructive. The firing in the square 
having continued for some time, by which several 
of the prisoners sustained injuries, the greater 
part of them appear to have been running back 
with the utmost precipitation and confusion to 



232 

their respective prisons, art'] the cause for further 
firing seeiasat this period to have cease J. It ap- 
pears accordingly that Capt. Shortland was in the 
market square, exerting himself and giving or- 
ders to that effect, and that Lieut. Fortye had suc- 
ceeded in stopping the fire of his part of- the 
guard. Under these circumstances it is very diffi- 
cult to find any justification for the further con- 
tinuance and renewal of the firing, which certain- 
ly took place both in the prison yards and else- 
where : though we have some evidence of subse- 
quent provocation given to the military, and re- 
sistance to the turnkey's in shutting the prisons, 
an J of stones being thrown out from within the 
prison cloofs. The subsequent firing rather ap- 
pears to have arisen from the state of individual 
irritation and exasperation on the part of the sol- 
diers who followed the prisoners into their yards, 
and from the absence of nearly all the officers, 
who might have restrained it ; as well as from the 
great difficulty of putting an end to a firing when 
once commenced under such circumstances. Capt. 
Shortland was from this time busily occupied with 
the turnkeys in the square, receiving and taking 
care of the wounded. Ensign White re ma n d 
with his guard at the breach, and Li cuts. Avelyne 
an.d Fortye, the only other subalterns known to 



233 

have been present, continued in the square with 
the mam bodies of their respective guards. 

The time of the day, which was the officers' 
dinner hour, will in some measure explain this, as 
it caused the absence of every officer from the pri- 
son whose presence was not indispensable there. 
And this circumstance, which has been urged as 
an argument to prove the intention of the prisoners 
to take this opportunity to escape, tended to in- 
crease the confusion, and to prevent those great 
exertions being made, which might perhaps have 
obviated a portion at least of the mischief which 
ensued. 

At the same time that the firing was going on 
in the square, a cross fire was also kept up from 
several of the platforms on the walls round the pri- 
son where the senteries stand,by straggling parties 
of soldiers who ran up there for that purpose. As 
far as this fire was directed to disperse the men as- 
sembled round the breach, for which purpose it 
was most effectual, it seems to stand upon the same 
ground as that in the first instance in the square.— 
But that part, which it is positively sworn was di- 
rected against straggling parties of prisoners run- 
ning about the yards and endeavouring to enter in 
the few doors which the turnkeys,according to their 
usual practice, had left open, does seem, as stated, 
to l>ave been wholly without object or excuse, and 



234 v 

to have been a wanton attack upon the lives of de- 
fenceless, and at that time unoffending, individuals. 
In the same, or even more severe terms, we must 
remark upon what was proved as to the firing into 
the door ways of the prisons, more particularly into 
that of No. 3 prison, at a time when the men were 
in crowds at the entrance. From the position of 
the prison and of the door, and from the marks of 
the balls which were pointed out to us, as well as 
from the evidence, it was clear this firing must 
have proceeded from soldiers a very few feet from 
the door way ; and although it w T as certainly 
sworn that the prisoners were at the time of part 
of the firing at least, continuing to insult and oc- 
casionally to throw stones at the soldiers, and that 
they were standing in the way of, and impeding 
the turnkey, who was there for the purpose of 
closing the door, yet still there was nothing stated 
which could in our view at all justify such exces- 
sively harsh and severe treatment of helpless and 
unarmed prisoners, when all idea of escape was 
at an end. — Under these impressions, we us 
every endeavour to ascertain if there was the 
least prospect of identifying any of the soldiers 
who had been guilty of the particular outrages 
here alluded to, or of tracing any particular death 
at that time, to the firing of any particular indi- 
iclual, but without success ; and all hopes of bring- 



13b 

ng the offenders to punishment should seem to be 
it an end. — In conclusion, we, the undersigned, 
mve only to add, that whilst we lament, as we 
lo most deeply, the unfortunate transaction which 
las been the subject of this inquiry, we find our- 
selves totally unable to suggest any steps to be 
:aken as to those parts of it which seem to cali for 
redress and punishment. 

(Signed) 

CHARLES KING, 

ERAS. SEYMOUR LARPENT. 

London. 18th April, 1815. 
Sir, 
At the request of Lord Castlereagh, we have 

had interviews with him and Mr. Goulburnon the. 
subject of the transportation of the American 
prisoners now in this country, to the United States ? 
and of the late unfortunate event at the depot at 
Dartmoor. 

On the first subject, we agreed to advise your 
acceptance of the proposition of Lord Castle- 
reagh to transport the prisoners at the joint ex- 
pense of the two countries, reserving the con- 
struction of the articles of the treaty, which pro- 
vides for the mutual restoration of prisoners, for 
future adjustment. It was stated by us, and was 
so understood, that the join!; expense, thus to be : - 
curred, is to comprehend as well the requisite ton- 



236 

nage as the subsistence of the prisoners ; and 
moreover that measures of precaution should be 
adopted relative to the health and comfort of the 
prisoners similar to those which had taken place 
in America. 

The details of this arrangement, if you concur 
with us as to the expediency of making it, are left 
with you to settle with the proper British autho- 
rity. 

On the other subject, as a statement of the trans- 
action has been received from the American priso- 
ners, differing very materially in fact from that 
which had resulted from an inquiry instituted by 
the port admiral, it has been thought adviseable 
that some means should be devised of procuring 
in ormation as to the real state of the case, in or- 
der, on the one hand, to show that there had not 
been any wanton or improper sacrifice of the lives 
of American citizens, or, on the other, to enable 
the British government to punish their civil and 
military officers, if it should appear that they have 
resorted to measures of extreme severity without 
necessity, or with too much precipitation. 

Lor! Castlereagh proposed that the inquiry 
should be a joint one, conducted by a commissioner 
selected by each government. And we have 
thought such an inquiry most likely to produce an 
impartial and satisfactory result. 



*v 



237 

We presume that you will have too much occu- 

Ipation on the first subject and the other inciden* 
tal duties of your office, to attend to this inquiry 
in person. On that supposition, we have stated 
to the British government that we should recom- 
mend to you the selection of Charles King, Esq. 
as a fit person to conduct it in behalf of the Ameri- 
can government. If Mr. King will undertake the 
business, he will forthwith proceed to Dartmoor, 
and in conjunction with the British commissioner, 
who may be appointed on the occasion, will ex- 
amine the persons concerned, and such other 
evidence as may be thought necessary, and make a 
joint report upon the facts of the case to John Q 
\dams, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary of the Uni- 
te;! States at this court and to the British govern- 
me : :;. 

The mode of executing this service must be left 
to the discretion of Mr. King" and his colleague.— 
If they can agree upon a narrative of the facts 
after having heard the evidence, it will be better 
than reporting the whole mass of testimony in de- 
tail, which they may perhaps find it necessary to 
do, if they cannot come to such an agreement. 
We are, sir, your obedient humble servants, 

(Signed) 

H. CLAY, 

ALfUvT GALLATIN. 

R. G. Beasley, Esq. 8ic* &C. 

A. 



238 

Plymouth, 26th April, 1815. 
Sir. 

In pursuance of instructions received frora 
Messrs. Clay and Gallatin, I have now the honour- 
to transmit to you the report prepared by Mr. 
Larpent and myself on behalf of our respective 
governments, in relation to the unfortunate trans- 
actions at Dartmoor Prison of War, on the 6th of 
the present month. Considering it of much im- 
portance that the report, whatever it might be, 
should go forth under our joint signatures, I hove 
forborne to press some of the points which it in- 
volves, as far as otherwise I might have done, and 
it therefore may not be improper in this letter to 
enter into some little explanation of such parts 
of the report. Although it does appear that a 
part of the prisoners were on that evening m such 
a state, and under such circumstances, as to fa 
justified, in the view which the commander of the 
depot could not but take of it, the intervention of 
the military force, and even in a strict sense, the 
first use of fire-arms, yet I cannot but express it 
as my settled opinion, that by conduct a little more 
temporizing, this dreadful alternative oi" firing upon 
unarmed prisoners might, have been avoided. — 
Yet as this opinion has been the result of subse- 
'nuent examination, and after having acquired a 
knowledge of the comparatively harmless state of 



* 



239 

prisoners, it may be but fair to consider, whe- 
ther in such a moment of confusion and alarm, as 
that appears to have been, the officer command- 
ing could -have fairly estimated his danger, or have 
pleasured out with precision the extent and nature 
of the force necessary to guard, against it. 

But when the firyjg became general, as it after- 
wardi appears to hive done, and caught with elec- 
tric rapidity from the square to the platforms, there 
is no plea nor shadow of excu;e for it, except in 
the personal exasperation of the soldiery, nor for 
the more deliberate, and therefore more unju 
able, firing which took place into three of the 
prisons, No. 1, 3, and 4, but more particularly iu- 
■o No. 3, after the prisoners had retired into them, 
and there was no longer any pretence of appre- 
hensions as to their .escape. Upon this ground, 
as you, sir, will perceive by the report, Mr. Lar- 
pent and myself had no difference of opinion, and 
I am fully persuaded that my own regret was not 
greater than his, at perceiving how hopeless would 
be the attempt to trace to any individuals of the 
military these outrageous proceedings. 

As to whether the order to fire came from Cap- 
tain Shortland, I yet confess myself unable to form 
any satisfactory opinion, though perhaps the bias- 
of my mind is, that he did give such an order,— 



240 

But his anxiety and exertions to stop it after it had 
continued for some little time, are fully proved, 
and his general conduct, previous to this occur- 
rence, as far as we could with propriety enter into 
such details, appears to have been characterized 
with great fairness, and even kindness, in the light 
in which he stood towards the prisoners. 

On the subject of any complaints against their 
own government existing among the prisoners, it I 
was invariably answered to several distinct ques- 
tions put by me on that head, that none whatso- 
ever existed or had been expressed by them, al- 
though they confessed themselves to entertain 
yome animosity against Mr. Beasley, to whom they 
attributed their detention in this country ; with 
what justice you, sir, will be better able to judge. 
They made no complaint whatsoever, as to their 
provisions and general mode of living and treat- 
ment in the prison. 

I have transmitted to .Mr. Beasleva list of the. 
killed and wounded on this melanc^ly occasion, 
v:hh a request that he would forward it to the 
United States for the information of their friends 
at home, and I am pleased to have it in my power 
to say, that the wounded are for the most part do- 
ing well 



241 

I have also enclosed to Mr. Beasley the notes 
aken by me of the evidence adduced before us, 
viih a request that he would have them fairly co- 
ned, as also a copy of the depositions taken before 
he Coroner, and desired him to submit them to 
'ou when in order. 

I cannot conclude, sir, without expressing my 
high sense of the impartiality and manly firmness 
ivith which this inquiry has been conducted on the 
)art of Mr. Larpent, nor without mentioning that 
every facility was afforded to us in its prosecution, 
as well by the military officers commanding here 
and at the prison, as by the magistrates in the 
vicinity. 

1 have the honour to be, with much respect, 
your most obedient humble servant, 

(Signed) CHARLES KING. 

His Excellency J. Q,. Adams, Sec. &c. 

London, 30th April, 1815. 

In my letter of the 19th instant, I informed you 
df the measures which had been adopted here in 
consequence of the late unfortunate event at Dart- 
moor Prison. 

I have now the honour to transmit the copy of 
a letter addressed to me by Mr. Clay and Mr. 
Gallatin, relative to that occurrence, and to the 

X 2 



242 

. sportation of the American prisoners in this 
country to the United States. 

In the absence of Mr. Adams, it becomes my 
•iuty to comrrumicate for the information of our 
government, the result of the investigation at Dart- 
moor. I enclose a copy of the joint report of the 
commissioners appointed for that purpose, also of 
a letter from Mr. King to Mr. Adams, and of a 
list of the killed and wounded on that melancholy 
occasion. 

I shall leave to Mr. Adams any further steps 
Lchbe may deem it proper to take in this busi- 
ness. I cannot, however, forbear to notice the er- 
roneous impression of the prisoners, that their de- 
tention so long has been owing to me. You are 
aware, sir, of my constant exertions during the 
war to effect their liberation. I immediately, on 
the signing of the treaty of peace at Ghent, re- 
newed my instances on that subject ; proposing, 
as a condition, that all prisoners who might be de- 
livered over to me by the British government, 
should be considered as prisoners of war, and not 
at liberty to serve until regularly exchanged, in 
the event of the treaty not being ratified by the 
President. This proposition was declined and in 
a peremptory manner. 



243 



On the receipt of the intelligence of the ratifica- 
tion from America, I lost not a moment in request- 
ing the release of the prisoners, according to the 
terms of the treaty ; and the number of vessels 
which I had hired, as mentioned in my letter of the 
13th, and which are now on their voyage to the 
United States, will show that the necessary steps 
e taken to provide for their immediate trans- 
portation to their country. The prisoners also 
were informed of these measures, and of the ex- 
ertions which had been made from the commence- 
ment, to return them to their homes with the least 
possible delay, Therefore, whatever may have 
been their uneasiness, under confinement, and 
whatever hostile feelings they" may have had to- 
wards me, as noticed in the report, and in Mr* 
King's letter, I must say with confidence, that I 
could not prevent the one, nor have I deserved the 
other. 

I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedi- 
ent humble servant, 

R. G. BEASLEY, 

The honourable John Mason, &c. &c, &c. 



244 

From the Plymouth (Eng.) Telegraph, April 
22. 1815. 
To the Editor. 
biR, 

The officers aid prisoners of this depot, k 
ins: an ardent desire that the citizens of the 
United States may be informed of -the many and 
great services rendered them by Dr. Magrath, and 
likewise that the subjects of Great Britain may 
learn with what sentiments of gratitude and re- 
^pect his unparalleled efforts in the cause of hu- 
manity, and the discharge of his duty, have at this- 
depot filled us ; we have to request that you will 
cause to be inserted in your paper, as early as 
possible, copies of the enclosed testimonials, ad- 
dressed to that gentleman. 

I am, &c. 

Benjamin Mercer. 
Hospital, April 13, 1815- 

Dartmoor prison, March 28, 1815. 
To His Excellency James Madison. 
Honoured and respected Sir, 
From the general philanthrophy of your charac- 
ter and liberality of sentiment, no apology is 
deemed requisite for introducing to your particu- 
lar notice, and that of the nation at large, Dr. 
George Magrath, principal of the medical deport- 
ment for the American prisoners of war in Eng- 



245 

land. It is impossible for us to speak of this gen- 
tleman in terms that will do justice to his "superior 
professional science, brilliant talents, the exem- 
plary virtues of his heart, the urbanity and ea^y 
accessibility of his manners, his unremitting as- 
sick] ; tics and unwearied exertions, in combatting a 
succession of diseases of the most exasperated and 
malignant character, which prevailed among the 
prisoners. At the first forming of the depot 9 
pneumonia, in its worst form, generally prevailed, 
which degenerated into a still more dangerous 
species of pulmonic complaint, nearly peripneu- 
monia notJia, which was rapidly succeeded by a 
putrid kind of measles, and that destructive mala- 
dy followed by a malignant small-pox, which 
spread rapidly ; dismay and apprehension were 
painted on every countenance. 

Dr. Magrath's time and attention were fully oc- 
cupied in the hospital, and in vaccinating the pri- 
soners. From his unprecedented exertions in an 
inclement season of the year, in a most inhospita- 
ble clime, his health became seriously impaired ; 
hut totally regardless of himself, he persevered in 
his unparalleled exertions, and from his superior 
knowledge in the healing art, was the means, un- 
der divine Providence, of rescuing many citizens 
of the United States from the fast approximating 
embraces of death. This malignant species of 



240 

smail-po::, unknown to the generality of profes- 
sional gentlemen, appeared in other places, an,] a 
far greater number fell victims, in proportion to 
the cases at the place. We therefore trust, that 
some distinguished mark of the nation's gratitude 
will be conferred on Dr. Magrath ; for this truly 
great man's exertions in the cause of suffering 
humanity, have been rarely equalled, but never 
excelled. 

We have the honour to remain, with sentiments 
©f respect and attachment, your excellency's obe- 
dient humble servants, 

BENJ. MERCER, 

PIERRE G. DE PEYSTER. 

HENRY PROCTOR, 

JOHN COTTLE, I § ,g 

THOS. CARBERRY, I |'*| : 

JAMES LESTER, ? 

HENRY BULL, 

THOS. B. MOTT, 

SETH WALKER, ( 

WILLIAM WEST, I t^^ 

CHARLES DEXTER, | I § £ 

c_ o" tr- 



3 *> 



n v 



o *_ 



WILLIAM MOLLEY, 

JOHNS. TROUBRIDCrE. 

Hi-NRY SJHERBURH, 

THOS. B. FROST, i ? S 



247 

ANSWER. 
Officers and brave Americans collectively, 
Permit me to request you will accept the warm- 
est and most sincere thanks of my heart, for the 
flattering testimonials of your approbation of my 
conduct, with which you have honoured me, and 
allow me to assure you, that nothing can be more 
exquisitely gratifying to my very best feeling, 
than the language in which you have been pleased 
to convey this mark of your esteem. I feel 
convinced that you will indulgently excuse me, if 
I find it impossible to command words sufficiently 
emphatic, adequately to express the sentiments of 
gratitude, with which I am penetrated, for this 
-qx-cted proof of your regard ; I must there- 
fore allfiw my heart, rather than my pen, to thank 
you. But. it voiill not be doing justice to my 
feelings were I to abstain from assuring you, that 
I have endeavoured to perform my duty towards 
you, with that self-devctedwss, which looks only 
for its reward in its own consciousness of right, and 
its own secret sense of virtue ; and whatever dif-. 
ficulties I have had to encounter in the discharge 
oi my important,, trust, by struggling with a suc- 
',) of the most violent and exasperated epi- 
demic diseases, perhaps ever recorded in medical 
ui? ing the whole of my service among 
you, the distinguished proof of your confidence 



248 

and approbation of my professional labours, with 
which you this day have been pleased to honour me 5 
amply compensates me, and must rank amongst 
the proudest and happiest events of my life. It 
now only remains for me, in this plain, but un- 
feigned language, again to beg you will receive 
my most sincere thanks ; and to assure* you, col- 
lectively, that a due and lively sense of the high 
honour which you have conferred upon me, shall to 
the last moments of my existence remain ingrafted 
in, my breast. And here allow me most sincerely 
to congratulate you on the happy event which ter- 
minates your captivity, and which is soon to re- 
store you to the bosoms of your families and 
riends ; and that you may all long enjoy peace 
and happiness, is the sincere wish of 

your most grateful and much 

obliged humble servant^ 
GEO. MAGRATB. 
Dartmoor, March 30, 1815. 

Dartmoor Prison^ April 2th, 1815. 
To His Excellency John Quincy Adams. 
Sir, 
Impressed with the sense of duty which we 
owe to our country and to ourselves, we respec- 
tively solicit permission to introduce to your Ex- 
cellency George Magrath, Esq. M. D. principal of 



249 

the medical department at this depot. Language 
is incompetent to delineate the worth and charac- 
ter of this gentleman, pre-eminent in medical sci- 
ence, enriched by every virtue and accomplish- 
ment that can dignify and adorn human nature 
and form the gentleman and philanthropist. 

His professional skill has been peculiarly conspi- 
cuous in his successfully combatting a succession 
of diseases, of the most exasperated and malignant 
character., which prevailed among the prisoners. 

Dr. Magrath's health, from his indefatigable exer- 
uons, became seriously impaired, but he perseve- 
red in the performance of his arduous duties and 
unremitting efforts to arrest the alarming and ra- 
pid advances of the prevailing diseases ; and he 
was the agent under divine Providence of rescuing 
many citizens of the United States from a prema- 
ture grave, and as it were, renewing their exis- 
tence, but more particularly on the late unhappy 
occurrence. 

Language is too impotent to describe Dr 
Magrath's unexampled endeavours to pre: «n. 
the effusion of blood 5 regardless of the many 
dangers by which he was environed, he per- 

Y 



250 

severed, amidst the heavy and incessant fire ol 
musketry, in his humane endeavours to prevent, 
the fatal catastrophe. 

His treatment of the unfortunate wounded 
Americans, is superior to all praise, and was 
such as to entitle Dr. Magrath to the es- 
teem and gratitude of the citizens of the Uni- 
ted States. 

We therefore respectfully and ardently solicit, 
that your Excellency would be pleased to honour 
Dr. Magrath with your particular notice and es- 
teem, and to convey these our sentiments to the 
government of the United States ; for we would 
wish to give all possible publicity to our high sense 
of Dr. Magrath, and to evince to our country and 
the world how gratefully we appreciate the essen- 
tial services we have received from that gentle- 
man. 

We avail ourselves of this opportunity to offer 
to your Excellency our congratulations on the 
happy termination of your important duties at 
Ghent, by the conclusion of a peace so highly 
honourable to our beloved country, and to your- 
.seH", and to assure your Excellency of our high re- 



251 

spect and attachment to your character and per- 
son. 

We have the honour to be, sir, 
your obedient humble 
Servants, 
For and in behalf of the American prisoners of 
war at this depot, 

PIERRE G. DEPEYSTER. 
HENRY PROCTER, 
HENRY BULL, 
JOHN COTTLE, 
THOS. GAIR, 
THOS. CARBERRY, 
JAMES LESTER, 
BENJ. MERCER, 
ISAAC DOWELL. 

Dartmoor, April 10, 1815. 
Gentlemen, 
Honoured as I am with the approbation of those 
whose good opinion I so highly estimate, I cannot 
permit myself to receive this additional mark of 
your friendship and regard (in which you much 
overrate my humble exertions, in the dis- 
charge of my duty and the cause of hu- 
manity,) without begging leave to assure you,, 
that whilst it reflects upon me the highest honour 
tha could be conferred, it lays claim to my heart- 



252 

felt acknowledgments, and everlasting gratitude. 
With the most sincere and cordial good wishes 
for your health and happiness, 

I remain, gentlemen, your much 
obliged and most grateful servant, 
GEO. MAGRATH. 
To the gentlemen forming the Hospital Com- 
mittee. 



February, 1815. 

The following is a correct list of all who entered 

his Majesiy^s service out of Dartmoor prison 

from April 1813, until 1814 y to which is an- 

nexed their former residence and the ships in which 

they were captured or impressed' 

James^Akin, Roxbury, Mass. Wm. Bayard 
Abel Akins, Penobscot, Maine, Tygris, Baltimore 
A 1 ford Arnold, unknown, Penn. Viper, do. 
Wm; Armstrong, Salem, Mass. Rolla, priv. 
Anthony Agusta, New-Orleans, do do 
He nry Allen, Roxbury, Mass. Wm. Bayard, N. Y. 
George Blancbard, Elizabeth, N. J. do. 
Gabriel Bugoine, — Vir. brig Star, N. Y. 
Henry Brown, New-York, Criterion, Baltimore 
Edward Blackstone. Kennebunk, Maine, do 
William Bishop, Dunverse. Mass. Spitfire, BostoR 



253 

William Brown, New-Point-Comfortj Vir. U. S. 

brig Argus. 
Frederick Cransburgh, Prussia, brig Star 
John C. Cox, b. New- York, do 
Stephen Churchell, Richmond, Vir. Viper, Bait. 
Samuel Cook, Tiverton, R. I. Price, do 

Albert Cooper, Newburyport, Mass. man of Avar 
Jerodia Denison, Middleton, Con. brig Star 
John Duncan, Boston, Viper 
Win. Ervine, New- York, Virginia Planter 
Francis Foster, New-London, Con. Meteor, N. Y. 
Shubel Folger, Nantucket, Mass. William Bayard 
William Fenton, Wiscasset, Maine, man of war 
Daniel Holt, New-London, Con. brig Star, N. Y. 
John Hughs, New- York, do. do 

John Hubbard, do do do 

James Holms, Portsmouth, N. H. Magdalin, N. Y, 
Thomas Howell, Beverley, Mass. Independence 
Anthony Hughieco, New-Orleans, Rolla privateer 
Aaron Hinkley, Bath, Mass. Viper, Bal. 
Francis Joseph, New-Orleans, brig Star, N. Y. 
James Jackson, Phil. Penn. Paul Jones, N. Y. 
John Little, do. Unknown. 

Matthew Latimore, N. Y. Meteor, N. Y. 

Robert Murray, New-Port, R. Rolla, Phil. 
Henry Neal, N. Y. N. Y. Ned, BaL 

Charles M'Nies, Bal. Maryland, Ned, do, 

Jonn Newgent, N. Y. True blooded Yankee. 

Y 2 



254 

Francis Rice, Boston, Mass. Virginia Planter, 
Ebenezer Rich, Portland, Mass. Flash, N. York. 
John Senate, Philadelphia, Win. Bayard. 

John Sheard, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. do. do. 

i Shultz, Denmark, Criterion, N. Y. 

Wm, Smith, New- York, Terrible. 

Join: Thomson, Denmark, brig Star. 

Wm. Thomas, Germany, Viper, Bal. 

Zacn. Tough, New-London, Con. Terrible. 
Jo . u Williams, N.York, N. Y. Wm. Bayard. 
Edward Washburn, N. York, N. Y. brig Star 
George Williams, Bal. Maryl. Charlotte, Charls. 
John Wilson, Phil. Penn. Governor Gerry, N. Y. 
William Warner, New- York, N. Y. Ajax. 
John West, do. do. Dukanor. 

Israel Wright, Tinmouth, Vcr. brig Star, N. Y. 
Wm. Wilson, Long-Island, N, Y. Ned, Bal. 
Robert Wesel, New- York, N. Y. do. do. 
Jamei Pickerton, Hampton, Vir. Lightning, Phil. 
Francis Lisda, New-Orleans, Louisiana, unknown. 
James Johnson, New- York, N. Y. brig Mars. 

The following is a correct list of all who entered his 
Jtlajcstfs service from the different prison ships 
at Chatham, from April 1813, until June 1814. 
Copied from the cLrk^s books. 

J hn Anderson, b. Newcastle, Del. man of war. 

7 >hn Atkinson, b. Baltim. Maryland, True Blood, 

Johfl Austin, unknown, unknown* 



255 

J osiah Abraham, Phil. Pen. man of war, 

James Anderson, Bal. Maryland, unknown. 

Peter Boyd, New- York, N. Y, do. 

John Boyd, Kennebunk, Mass. do. 

John Brown, New- Bedford, Impressed. 

John Bauld, Block Island, man of war. 

Isaac Baily, Boston, Mass. do. 

John Brown, Salem, do. True Blood. 

Peter Brown, Phil, Penn. unknown, 

George Bing, New- York, N. Y. man of war. 

John Brown, b. Salem, Mass. do. 

Samuel Billham, b. do. do. do. 

John Barks, New-Bedford, do. 

Geo. Burns, Phil. Penn. do. 

Asa Bumpus, New-Bedford, Mass. unknown. 

Rufus Brown, Eastport, do. 

John Burns, North-Carolina, do. 

John Baily, Hainsbury, Mass. do. 

Ebenezer Carter, Portsmouth, N. H. man of war, 

I- aac Crawford, Boston, Mass. do. 

Benjamin Cotten, Norfolk, Vir. do. 

Thomas Charles, b. New- York, N. Y. do. 

Charles Cuffee, Long-Island, N. Y. man of war. 

Isaac Carrol, New-York do. unknown. 

Ezekiel Church, Phil, Penn. do. 

Peter Dowling, Lewis burg, Vir. Gov. Tomkins, 

Wra. Denning, New-Bedford, man of war, 

Isaac Darlton, Boston, Mass, do, 



256 

Thomas Denison, Portsmouth, N. H. man of war 
Thomas D :-, New- York, N. Y. unknown. 
John Davis, Alexandria, Vir. man of war. 
Henry Dison, Holmes' Hole, unknown. 
Silas Eaton, Phil. Penn. M. S. Malta. 
Dudley French, b. Newburyport, Mass. unknown, 
John Fowler, unknown, do. 

Elias Field, do. do. 

Nicholas Gold, North Kingston, R. I. do. 
Wai, Goes, New- York, N. Y. - do. 

Jeremiah Gills, b, Baltimore, Maryland, do. 
Isaac Griifin, Boston, Mass. do. 

Gills, New- i : oik. N. Y. do. 

Samuel Harvey, North Carolina, Impressed. 
Jaaies Hoyd, New-York, N. Y. man of war. 
Henry Hamong, Phil. Penn. brig Esel, Bal. 
Henry Holsworth, New- York, unknown. 
John Hopkins, unknown, do. 

Samuel Hopkins, do. do. 

Samuel Hainsly, b. do. do. 

Wm. Hull, b. Bal. Maryland, do. 

Joanson Harlem, b. New-York, do. 
James Hall, Wainsburg, N. Y. do. 
Wm. Hubbard. Providence, R. I. do. 
Poter Henry, Phil. Penn. ; do. 

Taom. Hazaird, Nairagarisefc, R. I. do. 
John Fnz, New-Bedford, Ma- -. do. 
Benjamin liol brook, Kennebeck do- 



257 

Thomas Jackson, b. New- York, unknown 
John Jackson, Long-Island, do. 

Samuel Jackson, b. Salem, Mass. do. 
John Jackson, b. New-Bedford, do. 
Wm, Johnson, Norfolk, Vir. do. 

Zaca James, Snowhill, Maryland, do. 
Francis Johnson, Bal. do. do. 

Nathan Kezer, Newburyport, Mass.do. 
John Jones, Boston, do. do. 

Isaac Lemur, do. do. Impressed. 

Andrew Lamson, Portsmouth, N. H. unknown, 
John Lunderson, New-York, do. 

John Lames, Portsmouth, N. H. brig Hunter. 
George Lewis, b. unknown, unknown. 

George Lee, b. Salem, Mass. do. 
Asa Freeman, Pittyfoog, unknown. 
Jeremiah Miller,;Soco, Maine, do. 
Edward Mathews, Phil. Penn. man of war. 
John Morris, do. do. do. 

Mr. Fairlin, Bait. Maryland, do. 

Benjamin Morgan, b. unknown, do. 

Benjamin Melvin, b. Nuntucket, Mass. do. 
John Molden, b. Bait. Maryland, do. 
Morris, New- York, do. 

Edw. Moulton, Newburyport, Mass. do, 
Henry Moore, New- York, do. 

John Mackey, Portsmouth, N. H. do. 
JohnNicklas, New- York, N. Y. man of ww'i 



258 

- Owens, Philadelphia, Perm. 

Richard Porter, Wiscasset, Mass. Impressed. 

Thomas Parkman, unknown. 

Edward Phillips, do, 

Elisha Paul, Maryland. 

Simon Roy, Saybrook, Connecticut. 

John Ride, Philadelphia, Penn. 

Thomas Roberson, Plymouth, Mass. man of war 

John Rough, Alexandria, Virginia. 

William Riley, Philadelphia. 

Henry Randolph, , Massachusetts. 

Robert Real, New- York, N. Y. 

James Roberts, b. Wilmington, N. C. 

Robert Roberts, b. New- York. 

John Ring, Philadelphia, Penn. 

Nathan Robinson, unknown. 

Morns Russell, Savannah, Georgia. 

William Rich, Warrington, Con. 

Isaac Somendycke, New- York. 

George Simsons, b. Philadelphia. 

David Simond, b. Alexandria, Virg. impressed 

John Smith, Norfolk, do. do. 

James Stanly, New- York. 

William Symons, b. Charleston, S, C. 

William Steward, b. unknown. 

John Simson, b. do. 

V\ illiam Strong, Marblor-cad, Mass. 

Dsu id Stephens, Long-Jalaadg N. Y. 



259 

William Scofield, Turkey-Hill, Oldhadam, Con, 

John Thompson, Long Island, N. Y. 

Edward Fitly, New- York. 

Johu Vanderhoven, do. 

William Welch, Charleston, S. C. 

Charles Wetmore, Norwich. Con. 

John B. Williams, Baltimore, Md. 

John Wells, New- York. 

Charles Wight, Alexandria, Vir. 

Charles Wilford, New- York. 

Charles Williams, unknown. 

William Watson, Charleston. S. C. man of war. 

William Walker, Pelham, N. H. 

Jason Wood, Philadelphia, Penn. 

William Wood, do. do. 

Ezckicl Wilson, do. do. 

William Wolf, Savannah, Georgia. 

Charles Wilson, Providence, R. I. 

Robert W T ilson, Newport, do. 

The following is a correct list of prisoners who en* 
tered his Majesty' 's service at the Depot of Staple- 
ton, from July 1813. until May 1814, copied 
from the clerk's books, 
John Abrahams,' b. New- York, Grand Napoleon 
John Brown, Charleston, S. C. Revenge. 
John Beinbridge, Dutchman, Tickler, Bostos 
Charles Burgoin, Charleston, S, C. Revenge, 



260 

Joseph Fletcher, Portland, Mas. Orders in Council 
Henry Hendrick, do. 

Eben. Jacobs, Newhuryport, impressed. 
William Howard, Philadelphia, Fox. 
Stephen Henry, black man. 
Robert Hackley, New- York, unknown. 
Mark Mason, Philadelphia, Fox. 

James Marley, Norfolk, Virg. impressed. 
George Russell, New- York, Tom of Baltimore. 
John Smith, Paul Jones. 

Francis Surges, black man. 
Thomas Taylor, Maryland, Price of Baltimore 
Charles White, New- York, Meteor. 

The following is a list of names of persons wh» 
died at Stapleton jwison, from July 1813, until 
June 1814. 

George Morgan, Long-Island, N. Y. Grand Na- 
poleon. 
David Smart, New- York, Price of Baltimore. 
John Dunn, Philadelphia, do. do. 

D. Francis. Providence, R. I. Hebe of Philadel. 
John Mkchel, New-York, unknown 

Isaac Watts, Charleston, S. C. • do 
Lambert Johnson, New- York. do 



Mi 

The following is a list of names of persons who died 
at Chatham, on board the different prison-ships 
from January 1813, until June J 814 ; at which 
time all the prisoners were removed to the depot at 
Dartmoor. 
Feb. 28, 1814. Samuel Abbet, Andover, Mass 
Feb. 19, 1814. William Allen, Newport, R. I. 
January 4, 1813. Joseph Andrews, Marblehead 
January 7, 1813. Howel Baysta, Boston, Mass 
Dec. 5, 1814. Moses Blackman, Boston, do 

James Butler, unknown. 
Feb. 28, 1814. William Butler, Baltimore, Md 
March 31, John Adams, New-York. 
Dec. 1813. ElyBactman, Wocester county, Mas 

Thomas Billings, New- York. 
Jan. 9. Christopher Balbadge, Salem, Mass 
May 3, Edward Brown, Marblehead, do 
June 5, Nicholas Bunker, Scituate, do 
June 11. Jesse Brown, Belfast. Maine 
Nov. 23, 1813. Thomas Carter, Norfolk, Vir 
May 4. Thomas Copland, Charleston, S C 
April 16. Isaac Clough, Marblehead, Mass 

May 25. Christy, Baltimore, U. S. gun-boat 

March 4. James Davis, Somerset 
April 27. John H. Downie, Salem, Mass. 
July 5. James Div erause, do. do. 
April 18. Benjamin Elvell, Gloucester, Mass 
May 19, William Ehngwood, Marblehead, Mass 

z 



252 



Jan. 27. William Foller, Marblehead, Mas* 

March 27. Anthony Fundy, New- York 

April 12, 1814. William Forman, Portsmouth, 

New Hampshire 
May 18. Amos Graindy, Marblehead, Mass 
June 6, 1813. James B. Green, Alexandria, Vir 
June 25, 1814. Thomas Hutchinson, unknown 
Dec. 27. George Hubbard, do 

Feb. 14. William Hart, do 

April 17. Jacob Holt, Salem, Mass 
May. Christopher Hubbard, Baltimore, Md 
March 29, Samuel Head, New- York 
February 5. Samuel Jones, New- York, Tyger 
May 16. John Johnson, Long-Island, N Y 
March 12. William Light, unknown 

•Feb. 23. Reuben Ludlow, New- York, Tyger 
<Jan. 7. James Lewis, Norfolk, Vir 
March 30. James Ludlow, Greenfield, Con 
March 22. Ezekiel Miller, New- York 
March 29. Samuel Miller, New- York 
April 1 . Fisher Mansfield, New-London, Con 
Aaron Mackley, drowned escaping 
March 16. Captain Morgan, Salem, Mass. Enter- 
prize 
June 10. James Mills, Alexandria, Vir 
March 29, 1813. Samuel Nelson, New- York 
January 6, 1814. Hugh Nichols, Newborn, N C 
April 3. William Pousland, Marblehead, Mass 



263 



April 20. Clemont Pair, Portland, Maine 

21. Edward Patten, Baltimore 
May 24. William Potter, Beverly, Mass 
June 6. David Pinkham, Nantucket, do 
Jan. 4. Jared Ray, New- York 

John Roaply, New- York 
March 25. Charles Saunders, near Alexandria, V 
do 19. Proctor Simonds, unknown 
do 24. Ebenezer Skinner, Nantucket, Mass 
Henry Scot, Baltimore 
Jonathan Sawyer, Portland, Maine 
Nov. 25, 1313. Reuben Moslaird, Nantucket, Mas 

Tygcr, N Y 
Feb. 16. Daniel Roaps, Salem, Mas 
May 9. John Rottor, Md. 
April 24, 1814. James Smith, Marblehead, Mass 

Growler, - - Salem, do 

May 28. Jonathan Trueman, Portland, Maine 
March 6. Edward Williams, Philadelphia. 
April 14. James Weeks, Marblehead, Mass 

do 29, 1813. Samuel Warren, unknown 
March 4. Richard Winchester, Gloucester, Mass> 

Webber, Kennebeck, Maine 

August 16. Francis Williams, Salem, Mass 
March 26. Stepiien Thatson, Brooklield, do 

Thirty-nine names unknown — chiefly U. States 
Infant rv 



264 



The following contains a list of the persons who died 
at Dartmoor . from April 1-813, until the 18ih 
February, 1815 ; copied from the reports of the 
Doctor, 

Dec 23, 181 3. Henry Alligo, New- York, U. S. brig- 
Argus 

Oct. 24. Ambrose Alamond, Carthagenia, Presi- 
dent 

Nov. 6. John Adams, Washington, S. C. Grey- 
hound 
do. 21. John B. Allen, New- York, Herald 

Dec. 25, 1814. Isaac Anderson, Portsmouth, N H 
Huzzar 

Dec. 23. Joshua Andrews, Ipswich, Mass. David 

Porter, 
do 3. John Adams, N- C. America 
do 27. Alexander Anderson, N- York, Criterion 

Jan. 7. Jacob Anderson, Portsmouth, N H 
do 26. Daniel Archer, Salem, Mass. Grand Turk 

Jan. 4, 1815. Daniel Appleton, Portsmouth, N H 
U S Frolic 

Feb. 5. Robert Adams. Marblehead, Mass. He- 
rald 

Feb. 18. Peter Amos, Martha's Vineyard, do. In- 
vincible Napoleon 

Nov. 11. Asa Allen, Boston, Herald 

May 5, 1814. Nick Blanchard 



265 

Nov. 20, 1813. Hezekiah Bray, Boston, India 
do 23. John Boatman, Baltimore, Chasseur 
do 5.^814. Lewis Bryen, Carolina, Hawke 
do 27. Peter Berry, died suddenly 
do 28. Peter Barker, Boston, Derby 
do 28. Peter Bin, Petersburg, Vir. Independence 
do 3,1813. Thomas Barren, Virg. U S brig- 
Argus 
Dec. 2. Henry Burly, New- York 
do 5. John Baldwin, Boston, Fox 
do 8. James Barret, Pennsylvania, Bury 
do 25, 1814. Henry Burbage, Virginia, Grey- 
hound 
January 30. Charles Barker 
do 27. Benjamin Bale, Dover, N. H. Victory 
do 20. Philip Blagdell, New-Hampshire, Erie 
do 14. James Beck, Portsmouth, N. H. impressed 
Jan. 17, 1815. Daniel Bourge, Portsmouth, N. H* 

Harlequin 
Feb. 11. George Brown, West-Chester, N. Y- im- 
pressed » 
do 17. Charles Brown, Boston, Paul Jones 
do 17. Moses Bailey, Philadelphia, Scorpion 
Nov. 21, 1814. John Bablista, New-York, Herald 
Jan. 23. 1814, John Bryson, Virginia, Alicant 
Dec. 29, 1814. James Booth, New- York, Mary 
Nov. 18, 1814. Y. S. Bates, unknown, 
July 4, 1814, Wm. Clarke, Virginia, Frolic 

Z 2 



266 

Get. 20, 1813, Wm. Clark, South Kingston, R. I. 

Star of N. Y. 
Jan. 16. Charles Cornish, Bait. Md. Chesepeake 
March 5, James Combs, Bristol, D. Maine. U. S. 
brig Argus 
do. 20, John Cole, Wiscasset, impressed 
April 6, Benjamin Cook, Bait. Md. Chesepeake 
Oct. 3, Deal Carter, New- York, Zebra, N. Y. 
do. 7, John Collins, Phil. Mammoth Baltimore 
do. 16, John Carney or Carson, Vir. Flash 
do. 25, Simeon Ciianler, D rvbury, Essex 
:Vov. 3, Thomas Cooper, Washington, N. C. 

Union, 
do. 11, James Congdon, Cambridge, Mass. Mary 
do. 26, John Cole, Bait. M I. Adeline 
Dec. 4, Rxhard Coffee, Long-Island, N. Y. Amer. 
Jan. 17, Samuel Campeacn, Carthegena. President 
do. 24, Simeon Clark, Weathersfield, SnapecfeagQ8 
Nov, 5, 1814, Wm. Coleman, N. C Hawke 
May 10, Wtn. Dilton, Georgetown. Argus 
hov. 14, S.ia^ Durham, Boston, Mass. India 
do. 18, Amasa Dilano, > do- 

Jr. i. 10, Wm. D-mamond. R. I. brig Mary 
Oct. 25, 1811, David Dunham, unknown. Fame, 

Baltimore 
I ... William Edgar, N. Jera&pj ITcnsie 
do. 6, 131.5, Edward Evans, Kenne bunk, brig 
Star, ^- Y. 



267 

Feb. 25, 1814, Wm. Ferza, Granville, Mermaid 
Ja.i. 27, 1814, James Fulford, N. C Snap-dragon 
Wm. Fletcher, Marblehead, Mass. Spitfire, Boston 
Dec. 23, 1813, Henry Frelitch, Liverpool, Penn. 

Liverpool 
November 12. Jesse Field, Tovvnsend, Maine, 

Siron 
do 30. Joshua Fowler, Boston, Impressed 
January 23, William Fennel, Portsmouth, N. H. 

Harper. 
March 18, 1814- Thomas Foquet, Granviii ■;. brig 

Argus 

May 1813. Reuben Glass, Duxbury, Mars of Bal- 
timore 

April 19, 1814. Thomas Gasgiline, Martinico, W. L 
Augustine 

October 22. William Gibson, New- York, Rattle- 
snake 

November 4. Francis Gardner, , Rhode 

Island, Rambler 

December 3. John Gaylor, >. , North Carolina, 

America 

Fe i-uary 17, 1815. James Gedman, Portsmouth, 
N. H. Bunker-Hdl 

January 29, 1815. Richard Hughs, New- York, 
Amiable, Phda. 

March 5. Simeon Harress, New- York, Magdalen 

July 3, 1814. James Henry, do U. S. brig 
Argus 



268 

July 8, James Hart, do. Courier of Bal- 

■ ember 9. Isaac Hermain, Portland, Maine. 
El bridge Gerry 

do 11. James Hetrope, Cambridge, Mass. Mary 
do 24. William Rarress, Portsmouth, N. H. 
Portsmouth 

December 24. Dempey Hydra, , North 

Carolina, Paul Jones 
do - 4. Silas Hardison, , N. Carolina 

! ariuary 6, 1315. Ehjah Hartford, St. Thomas, U. 
States Infantry 

February 5. Jacob Hanley, Milford, impressed 

December 29, 1814. Alexander Henderson, New- 
York, Criterion 

November 4, 1814. William Jones, Cambridge, 
Mass. Hawkc 

April 30, 1814. George Jones, , Connecti- 
cut, Viper of Baltimore 

June 25. Lambert Johnson, Middletown, N. J. 
Paul Jones 
do 6. Thomas Jackson, New-York, impressed 

November 2. Alexander Johnson, Charleston, S. C. 
William 
do 25. Manuel Joseph, Oporto, impressed 

January 21. Thomas Jarvis, Marbleliead, Mass. 
Industry 

January 8, 1815. John Johannas, Salem, Masj = 
President 



269 

February 1. John Johnson, New-York, born i» 
Rhode-Island, Criterion 

November 11, 1814. James Ketrope, Cambridge, 
Mary 

February 3, 1815- Uriah King, Scituate, Mass. 
Dominick 
Nov. 3, 1814. Jesse Lasol, Martinico, President 

Augusts, 1814. John Lewis, R. I. True Blooded 
Yankee. 

Jan. 1, 1814, James Lestar, unknown, do. 

Jan. 15, Charles Lamson, Bait. Md. Mars, Bait. 

Sept. 30, Lewis Larkins, Durham, Mass. Rolla. 

Nov. 1, Placid Lorly, Washington, Hawke. 

Nov. 22, Anthony Lamb, Con. Grand Turk. 

Dec. 30, Richard Lee, Mass. brig Argus. 

Jan. 27, Amos Larkins, Beverly, Mass. Impressed 

Feb. 4, 1815, James Laskey, Marblehead, Mass 
Enterprise. 

Nov. 20, 1814, Sola. Marshall, Mass. Alexandria 

Oct. 1, 1813, Thomas Morrison, Bait. Md. Mes- 
senger. 

Jan. 14, 1814, Henry Moore, New-York, Mar- 
mion, N. Y. 

Feb. 24, John Montgomery, New-Bedford, Im- 
pressed. 

Sept. 22, Manuel Martin, N. Orleans, Paul Jones, 
New- York 

Oct, 27 ? Calasso Madosa, Carthagena, President 



270 



October 25, Albert Mingo, N. Orleans, Weezer 

Nov. 18, Rollen M-Donovan, Mass. Siro 

Nov. ! 8, John Macky, Bait. Md. Rattlesnake 
do. 20, Richard Miller, Penn. Snap Dragon 

Jan. 30, Joseph Midge, unknown 

Dec. 12, Ezekiel Mitchell, Portland, D. Maine 
Charlotte 

Feb. 5, 1815, Jesse March, Kennebunk, do. 
M'Donough 

Feb. 14, Wm. Misten, Rait. Md. impressed 
do, 17, John Martin, Carthagena, President 

Sol. Marshal, Deer Island, Mass. Mammoth 1 

Jan. 22, 1815, Peter Mitchell, New- York, For- 
midable 

Nov. 15, 1813, Benj. Newbern, New- York, U. S. 
brig Argus 

Sept. 29, 1814, Edward Norton, Plymouth, Mass. 
U. S. ship Argus 

Feb. 24, 1815, Daniel Nash, TVIaryland, impressed 

Oct. 7, 1814, Josiah Pettengell, Salem, Mass 
Enterprise 

Nov. 4, 1814, Joel Perigo, Boston, Mass. India 

March 12, 1814, Samuel Pearce, Greenwich, R. I. 
Dart of N. Y. 

Dec. 4, 1814, Samuel Peterson, Phil. Nonsuch 

Nov. 5, 1814, Thomas Parker, Bait. Md. Domi- 
nique 

Nov. 28. Wm. Parker. New-York, Derby 



271 

Jan. 30, 1814, Charles Parker, unknown 
Nov. 3, John Perkins, Pittsfield, Mass. Siro 
Nov. 7, James Palmer, Portsmouth, N. H. Frolic 

do. 23, John Pollard, Pernambuco, S. A. Ida 
Jan. 14, Aaron Peterson, Stonington, Con. Joel 

Barlow 
Oct. 5, John Potter, Phil. Penn. impressed 
Sept. 25, Ephraim Pinkham, Wiscasset, Maine, 

Mammoth 
May 1813, Horace Risley, Long-Island, N. Y. 

Star of N. Y. 
November 1G, 1814. Benjamin Rinevon, Guada- 
loupe, West Indies, Fox 

do 12. Luke Rodgers. •. North Carolina. 

Fairy 
do 14. David Reed, Townsend. District of Maine ; 
America 
December 29. James Rooth, Norwich, Con. Mary 

January 9, 1814. Silas Hardison, , North 

Carolina, Hawke 
do 22. Thomas Rix, Suffolk, Vir. Labrador 
February 7, 1815. Francis Roberts, St. Sebastian, 
Spain, Chesepeake 

do 14. John Risdon, Baltimore, Pike 

do 15. Samuel Robenson, Boston, Duca- 

navia 
December 9, 1814. Samuel Robenson, PMadel- 
phia, Nonsuch 



272 

January 16, 1314. William -Saunders. Kennebunk. 

Maine. Mars of Eahimore 
October 17, William Skans, IL S. brig Argus 
do 20. Francis Saul, Wiscasset, Maine, Mer- 
cury- 
do 25. Jacob Sawyer, Providence, R. L 
impressed 
November 3, Richard Sperdy, — , Virginia, 

Amelia 

do 20. Isaac Simerson, New- York. Invinci- 
ble 

do 21, Lewis Slow, Middletown, Con. Tick- 
ler 
December 7. Jacob C. Secusa, New- York, Vo- 
lunteer 

do 8. Nicholas Smith, Rickmond. Virginia,, 

Herald 

do 15. John Stiles, Baltimore, Md. William 

Bayard 
January 24. Henry Schelding, unknown 

do 14. Smith Schelding, New- York, Fort. 
Erie 

do 5, 1815. John Stow, Harlequin 

do 20. John Straul, Portland, Maine, Siro 
March 15, 1814. William Sternis, Norwich, Con. 

Viper of Baltimore 
December 5. William Smart, ■ ■ Virginia, 

Gothland 



273 

January 28, 1815. Daniel Simons, Marblehead, 

Mass. Enterprise 
do 12. Ebenezer Simons, unknown 

February 7. John Seapach, Portland, Maine, Ali- 
cant 

March 9, 1814. Eleazer Tobie, New- York, True- 
blooded Yankee 

February 25. William Tyre, Springfield, Viper of 
Baltimore 

March 18. Thomas Tagatt, Granville, Argus 

July 23. Abraham Thomas, , Con. P. Jones 

September 26. Matthew Tineman, New- York, 
Tom Thumb 

October 25. John Thomas, New- York, Elbridge 
Gerry 

November 3. Abraham Tompkins, New- York. 
Governor Shelby 
do 24. Francis Tuttle, Pernell, Maine, Leo 

December 2. John B. Taylor, New- York, Fair 
American 

January 27, James Fulford, , North Caro- 
lina, Snap-Dragon 

February 12, 18 15. Samuel Tophown,Montgomery. 
soldier of the U. S. A. 

January 8. James Vassa, unknown, Growler 

January 19, 1815. Daniel Very, Salem, Mass. 
Frolic 

A a 



274 

August 31, 1814. Nathaniel Vaughrs, Newport, 
R. I. Ducanavia 

March 20, 1814. Thomas Williams, , Con- 
necticut, Viper of Baltimore 

October 27. William Williams, Georgetown, Ma- 
ria Theresa 

December 5. William Wescott, , Virginia, 

Gothland 

January 14, James Williams, Weathersfield, Con. 
Caroline 

do 17. Seth Williams, Portsmouth, N. H. 
Harlequin 

January 28, 1815. George Overt, , New- 
Hampshire, impressed 
do 8. Joseph Wedger, Marblehead, Mass- 
Growler 

-February 1. Joseph Williams, Gay-Head, Enter- 
prise 

January 24, 1814. Thomas Zervice, Marblehead, 
Mass. Industry 

January 21, 1814- William Young, North Carolina, 
Levant 






sears 

The following is a list of persons zoho escaped from 
Dartmoor prison, from September 1814; the first 
escape, until March 13, 1815* " 

September 20, 1814. Shapley Smith, Baltimore, 
Leo 
do 20. Henry Cottrill, Narraganset, R. I. 

unknown 
October, 1814. Captain Swain, New-Bedford, Ma§. 

1814. Gascoigne, unknown 
November — -. Henry Allen, Salem, Mass. Polly 
John Windham, unknown 

December — . Russell, New-Bedford, Mass, 

do — . Howard, unknown 

September — . Benjamin Prince, Portland, Maine, 

Magdalen » 

January, 1815. Rodgers, New-York, True- 
blooded Yankee 
do — . Caleb Holmes, do. unknown 

February, 1815. Joseph Langford, Baltimore, 
True-blooded Yankee 
do 6. George Denison, Portland, Maine, 

Siro of Baltimore 
do 12. John W. Fletcher, Alexandria, Vir. 
Rattlesnake 
March 12, 1815. David Flood, Portland, Maine, 
impressed 



276 

March — . Isaiah Bunker, Philadelphia, True- 
blooded Yankee 
do 18. William Webster, unknown 

Escaped from the last date, until April, six men. 
names unknown 

The following is a correct list of names of prisoners 
zoho died at Dartmoor prison, from February 18, 
1815, until April 20, 1815. 

March 4. Archibald Allen, , New-Jersey, 

impressed 

do 15. William Adams, « , Connecticut, 

impressed 

Capt. Allen, of the U. States brig Argus, 
of his wounds 

February 22, 1815. John Butler, , Delaware. 

Semiramus 
March 18. Peter Burch, Philadelphia, Prosperity 
do 29. William Brady, Baltimore, Flash, N. Y. 
do 22. Henry Campbell, Philadelphia, Pen. 
Columbia 

April 5. James Campbell, New- York, impressed 
March 11. Jonathan Dyer, Portsmouth, N. H. 

True-blooded Yankee 
February 25. Jonathan Davis, Middle-river, Mass. 
ship Yorktown 



i 



27? 

March 30. Benjamin Delano, Ducksbury 

AprJ 12. John Devinas, , Ohio 

March 14. William Evin, , Rhode Island, 

brig Star 
do 18. Archibald Fogerty, , Massachu- 
setts, Horatio 
April 16. John Francis, Norfolk, Vir. impressed 
March 4. Jeremiah Gardner, Newport, R. 1. im- 
pressed 
February 23. Josiah Gun, Salem, Mass. 
March 24. Thomas Groves, Boston, Mass. Port 
Mehon 
do 14. Jonathan Gladding, Bristol, R. I. 
Rattlesnake 
February 24. Francis Hobden, Gloucester, Vir. 
March 10. Abijah Holbrook, Weymouth, Derby- 
do 14. John Hobson, Bedford, N. C. Snap- 
dragon 
do 20. Joseph Haycock, Portland, Maine 
April 6. Henry Holden, Boston, Sultan 

6. John Haywood, , Vir. impressed 

18. Thomas Hall, Surprise 

February 22. John Jennings, Gay Head, M. V. 
Hawke 

23. James Jones, , Md. impressed 

26. Peter Joseph, W. Indies, President 

A a 2 



278 

February 24. Edward Jenkins, Cambridge, Mass. 

Tom of Baltimore 
March 10. Win. Johnson, Salem, Mas. impressed 

do 14. John Jackson, Baltimore, do 
April 6. Thomas Jackson, New- York, Orbit 

do 6. Joseph Johnson, , Connecticut., 

Paul Jones 
Feb. 26. James Knapps, Baltimore, impressed 

John Kelly, Marblehead, Mas. Alfred 
April 16. Jacob Kemble, Jenet 

do 6. William Leverett, New- York, Saratoga 

March 10. Capt. Lepiate, , N. Y. Paul Jones 

February 21. Edward Miller, Newark, N. J. 
Mammoth 
do 21. Charles Moutle, Stonnington, Con. 

impressed 
March 26. James Morris, Baltimore. President 

24. William Mills, city of Jersey, N. J. 

Zebra 

27. Benjamin Marshall, , Massachu- 
setts, Mindor 

30. George Moore, Boston, Mass. Chas- 
seur 
January 2. John Monroe, Albany, N. Y. Rattle- 

snake 
April t>. Jabez Mann, Boston, Siro 



279 

March 10. Jonathan Paul, Charleston, S. C- imp, 
do 15. Thomas Peckham, Windham, Con. 
Paul Jones 

do 22. Gideon Porter, , Rhode Island, 

impressed 
April 1. Samuel Parish, Norfolk, Vir. Grand Na- 
poleon 
February 23. Joseph Quio®, Salem, Mas. Herald 
March 2, Joseph Rasom, Wiscasset, Maine, Ned 
of Baltimore 
d© 2. Joseph Robenson, do do. Ned 

of Baltimore 

April 1. James Robenson, '< , Massachusetts, 

Price of Baltimore 
do iS- William Robenson 
March 20. Jeremiah Stanwood, New buryport, Ms, 
impressed 
do 17. Silas Squibs, New-London, Connecti- 
cut, Hope-packet 
February 22. Martin Sutten, New Bedford, Mass. 

Lion 
March 4. David Shute, Salem, Mass. impressed 
do 5. Andrew Smith, Indian River, Tom 

do 14. Joseph Salesbury, , Massachusetts, 

Zenith 

do 16. Theodore Snell j — -, Rhode Island, 

a soldier 



280 

March 16. Stephen Stacy. Marblehead. Mass. Ohio 
February 21. Henry Thomas, Cambridge, Mass. 

Derby 
April 14. Richard Smith, Grand Turk 

F bruary 21. David Turner, Boston, Derby 
April 6. John Turner, Massachusetts, 

Rattlesnake 
do 18. William Thompson, Siro 

February 25. Darius Villius, Providence, R. I. 

Frolic 
March 10. Charles Williams, New-London, Con* 

do 17. Samuel Williams, , Massachusetts, 

Scorpion 

do 26. Edward Williams, , Va. impressed 

April 6. John Washington, Cooperstown, Md, 
Rolla 

Died at Ashberton during the war, 

March 10, 1815. B. Elvel, Gloucester, Mass. Fire* 
Fly 

do 25. Abraham Burnham, , Mass. Price 



28 i 



Supplement of some matters obtained since the 
preceding pages were written. 

Copy of a letter from Lieut. N. D, Nicholson, of 
the late U. States brig Syren, to Capt. Samuel 
Evans, commanding naval officer at New-York. 

New- York, August 24, 1815. 
Sir, 

Conceiving it my duty to make known the 
treatment exhibited by British officers and men, 
to those who are so unfortunate as to fall into their 
power, 1 am induced to acquaint you with the fol- 
lowing circumstances : 

After the surrender of the Syren to the Medzvay, 
the officers and crew of the former were removed 
to the latter : the crew not being allowed the pri- 
vilege of taking their clothing, &c. with them, — 
so that the prize-crew had a fair opportunity of 
plundering such articles as they thought proper ; 
which opportunity they took care to profit by, as 
many of our men were pillaged of all they pos- 
sessed, excepting what they had on at the time ; 
and the officers m like manner were plundered on 
board the Medzvay. The midshipmen, some of 
them, were completely stripped ; others lost tneir 



282 

watches, te. For my own part, I came off with 
the loss of about half my clothing, and thought my- 
self well off when compared with the losses of my 
shipmates. 

The morning after our capture, we were mus- 
tered on the quarter-deck, to undergo a search; 
the men were then stripped to the skin, and their 
clothing not returned ; so that many of them were 
left without any thing more than a shirt and trow- 
sers. The next day, Mr. Barton (the first lieute- 
nant of the Medzcay) distributed the clothing he 
had taken from our men, to his quarter-masters and 
quarter-gunners in my presence. 

After being on board the Medway five weeks, we 
were landed at Simon-Town, twenty-five miles to 
the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope ; myself 
and brother officers paroled, and the men marched 
to Cape-Town under an escort of dragoons; being 
obliged to ford a lake on the march, where the boys 
were compelled to go over on the backs cf the tall 
men ; this march of twenty-five miles was per- 
formed in one day, and without shoes or food . 
the latter article they were kept without four and 
twenty hours ; their shoes were stolen by the crew 
of the Mtdwag while they were asleep. * After re- 
maining in this situation nearly eight months, with- 
out bed or bedding, (they were not even furnished 



283 



with straw, and their hammocks were taken on a 
plea of their being publick property,) we were all 
embarked in different men of war and Indiamen 
for England ; myself, and about sixty officers and 
men, in the Cumberland, seventy-four, Capt. Ba- 
ker, were all put on the lower gun-deck without 
distinction, among their own crew, and fed on 
prisoners' allowance ; and on my remonstrating 
with the captain for receiving such treatment, he 
ordered me off the quarter-deck, with a threat, at 
the same time, to put me in irons. 

We remained in this situation eighteen days, af- 
ter which Lieuts. German, Gordon, and myself, 
were removed to the Grampus, thirty, at St. He- 
lena, admitted to the ward-room mess, and treated 
with civility. 

With respect, I have the honour, &c. 

N. D. NICHOLSON. 
Capt+ Sqmuel Evans. 



THE END, 






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